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SAARA SAARELA | RÉALISATRICE

Réalisatrice finlandaise, scénariste et auteur, Saara Saarela a un parcours international et déjà plusieurs films à son actif.

CINÉMA

  • 2009-2010

    La Vénitienne
    90 min political thriller, tv – movie for Arte France Production: Jacques Kirsner www.jemproductions.fr
    Shooting in Paris Nov-Dec ’ 09
    Starring: Thierry Frémont, Hélène Seuzaret Catherine Samie, Laurent Terzieff A thriller combining the contradictory past and present of France. A police investigation of the mysterious murder of an old prostitute reveales a politlical scandal.

  • 2009

    Twisted Roots
    (released in Finland Oct. ‘09)
    A feature film. Screenplay with Selja Ahava-Foster Production : Liisa Penttilä, Edith Film www.edithfilm.fi Disrtibution : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Finland
    The members of the family Kuura are driven together for the first time in their lives during one of the coldest winters in Finland. They are forced to face issues that have been kept silent for too long. A drama about a family in health-related, financial and emotional distress.

  • 2004

    Les Européens
    Teneriffa
    19 min. short film as part of a feature film composed of 5 short films by 5 directors around Europe. Shooting in Germany / Poland in April ‘04
    Production: Zor Films, Paris and ARTE France
    Ernst, a german family man is still today ashamed of his father’s nazi past and travels secretly to Warsaw to destroy his father’s identity papers from the national archive.

  • 2002

    Stripping
    75 min romantic comedy, 35mm Dolby Digital www.blindspot.fi
    cinema release ‘02
    Moscow International Film Festival ’02, in competition
    Mar Del Plata Int. Film Festival, Argentina ’03
    Women’s Film Festival, Turkey ’03, in competition
    A romantic comedy about a comic strip artist Inka, and her friends as they journey to the fountainhead of love.

  • 2000

    Slow at Heart
    60 min drama, 35mm Dolby Digital www.blindspot.fi
    A tragicomedy about a family man who thinks he has lost his emotions.

COURTS MÉTRAGES

  • 1998

    Redeemer
    Part of the ordered “one shot – films” originated from the competition held by ARTE. Several short film festivals, in competition

  • 1997

    Deer Men
    3 min short film, 35 mm Dolby Sr
    One of seven films commissioned by MTV Europe for its One Minute Cinema programme.
    Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation ‘ 98
    An ironic view on Nordic silence, coldness, men and reindeers.

  • 1996

    Tir (Shot)
    12 min short film, 16 mm
    Graduation Film from Université de Paris 8
    Special Prize of the Jury, Tampere Short Film Festival ‘96
    A dark comedy about an old man who owns a shooting arcade in the middle of Paris. One shot decides the turn in several people’s lives.

TÉLÉVISION

  • 2008

    Undergrowth
    episode mini serie for Yle TV 1 Production: Roope Lehtinen, Moskito Television, www.moskito.fi
    A comedy about a self aware and egoistic gay couple moving to the countryside in hope of a better life.

  • 2006

    Asylum
    2 episode serie (50 min each) for Yle TV 1
    A drama set in the refugee center of Helsinki. The touching stories of the employees and of those who seek political asylum in Finland overlap during a time when the country is deciding for its policies on refugees.

  • 2005

    One Devided by Two
    10 episode (30 min each) serie for youth programming Yle TV 2 Production: Roope Lehtinen Moskito Television
    16 year old twin girls deal with the difficult divorce of their parents and get separated for the fist time in their life.

    Nightshift
    thriller mini – serie (3 x 50 min.) for Yle TV 2 adapted from Jouko Raivio’s book by the same name.
    A nurse from Vaahtera Hospital disappears from her shift on Christmas Eve. Two days later she is found murdered, the head of hospital security starts an investigation.

    Crime Detective Maria Kallio (Snow woman)
    3 episodes (3 x 50 min) of crime serie, MTV 3
    Production: Jarowskij Drama Suomi
    The leader of a women’s therapy center is found frozen to death in the forest in her underwear. Detective Maria Kallio starts the investigation.

    The Dotcom Boys
    3 episode (45 min each) serie for Nelonen, Finland
    Awarded as the best Finnish tv – drama 2001
    A drama that describes and ironically highlights the hype associated with the dotcom business that happened in the turn of the new millenium.