Maiden of Dusk

See Mood Movie

A feature film in development. Scheduled shooting summer 2019.

Logline

The love story between the three, Sonja, Niko, and Thomas might be a dream-come-true. But Sonja’s unplanned pregnancy and fatal illness force them to face a painful decision. Is their love strong enough to rewrite the story with a happy end?

Synopsis

Sonja, an archeologist and university researcher (41) is living dangerously. A love affair with her young assistant Niko (25) is risky business. It all changes as an emotional intruder, filmmaker Thomas (58), who is also in love with Niko, starts to pull the strings of their story. Sonja falls for Thomas. Niko turns to Thomas. The love between the three, Sonja, Niko, and Thomas might become a dream-come-true. Yet, Sonja is already getting in deep trouble. Her hyperactive sexuality has started to draw attention amongst her colleagues. But only when Sonja finds out of her unplanned pregnancy and her fatal brain disease is discovered, it all gets on the fast tracks. Are the three able to change the end of their story – the cause written by the inevitable death?

 

Facts

Producer: Pasi Hakkio

Production Company: Oblomovies Oy (Finland)

Film Title: Maiden of Dusk

Director: Pia Tikka

Screenplay: Eeva R Tikka and Pia Tikka

Genre: Drama with magical realism

Length: 90 min

Format: Digital 4K

Language: English

Country of origin: Finland

Country of shoot: Estonia and Finland

Music/Composer and key cast: Tbc

Estimated budget: 1,600,000 e

Co-producers: Estonia, Denmark (tba)

Stage of development: Final draft

Shooting: In summer 2019

Intended release: 2020

 

Pia Tikka, Director’s statement

My over 25 years of experience in working in international film productions includes directing two feature films, several shorts, experimental films, enactive 360º and VR films, and music videos.

The long-term collaboration with director-producer Mika Kaurismäki since 1989 has provided me with extensive experience of shooting films in challenging locations, such as Amazon rain forest, Lapland tundra, Philadelphian jail, and LA. I have also a decade of experience in developing Enactive Cinema, a novel kind of emotion-driven interactive cinema format premiered in 2005.

I hold a MA in cinematography 1996 and a PhD from Helsinki Film school 2008. Since 2009 I have studied the film viewer’s mind in order to understand how emotional film content affects different people. My research with neuropsychologists at the Aalto University Helsinki has given fresh insights also to my main character Sonja’s diseased brain.

Maiden of Dusk depicts an emotionally powerful love story between three people in life and death. So true to their sexual and intellectual nature, its brave and at the same time controversal message is extremely important and timely – for today and for all the futures to come.

Production team Finland, Estonia, and Denmark (tbc)

Producer Pasi Hakkio

Pasi Hakkio has worked in feature length TV-movies in Sweden for German production company Bavaria Film. After studying Entrepreneurship and Film producing in Germany he moved to Northern-Finland where he founded production company Visual Norden Ltd. in 2011. In Visual Norden Hakkio has produced plays for the comedy theater and co-produced the film Snow Queen (dir. K. Hattop), which premiered in Germany 2014 and in Finnish Cinemas 2015. Hakkio has also worked as a Finnish co-producer on multi-country documentary film One girl (dir. R. Russo), which will be premiered in 2016.

Visual Norden Ltd. aims to produce both fiction and documentary films for the international markets.

Production consultation Karin Reinberg-Shestakov

With an educational background in philosophy and cultural theory from Tallinn University, Karin Reinberg-Shestakov began as a producer in television, where she produced several drama series and various programs for 10 years. In 2005 she started a production company, Revolver Film, with two partners. Karin is an EAVE graduate from the year 2011 and the board member of The Estonian National Producers Association. In the Revolver Film she has produced a number of documentaries, shorts, and a critically acclaimed feature The Wish Tree (2008, dir. L. Paakspuu). Recently, she co-produced a feature documentary The Voice of Sokurov (dir. L. Kilpeläinen), which had its world premiere at Locarno IFF 2014. Her other current projects include a musical documentary Heart of The Wolf (dir. L. Paakspuu) and a black comedy Priscilla of the Baltics in co-development with Russia and Latvia. She started as a co-producer for Maiden of Dusk in 2014. Revolver Film Ltd., an Estonian independent production company produces features, documentaries and shorts, and provides film and tv production services. Revolver is specialized in original and playful films by young promising authors and international co-productions.

Support:

Development supported by Finnish Film Foundation

Contact:

Director Pia Tikka @oblomovies.com  +358 50 34 77 432, +372 522 4013

Producer Pasi Hakkio @visualnorden.fi  +358 50 35 93 512

 

Image created by Peter Hjorth VFX, Denmark

film and interactive media productions

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