NT 2012 Antti Heikki 'Hits the Wall' as Nordic Talents 2012 Winner

Several 2012 Nordic film graduates are set to follow the footsteps of former fellow students now successfully working in the  Born in 1982 in the outskirts of Helsinki, Antti Heikki Pesonen spent much time alone as a teenager. He found in literature, films, video games the perfect forms of escapism and secretly started to toy with the idea of becoming a filmmaker. After several odd jobs to pay the bills, he entered the ELO Helsinki Film School. His graduation film  won a total of eight international awards this year including the prestigious Risto Jarva Prize Special Prize in Tampere last March as well as the Best Feature Film over 30 minutes award and Best Actress Award (Aimi Toivanen) at Europe's largest Student Film Festival in Sehsüchte. The director's 8 minute film  also screened at Locarno's short film programme in August. 

Mixing social realism with dead pan comedy - an art mastered by Aki Kaurismäki, Pesonen is determined to carve his own artistic path. "Finnish cinema is known for its tongue and cheek humour. But for me, comedy mostly comes from honesty. "
"When making films, you have to decide from which window you want to see the world and your vision has to be honest, not manufactured."
 is a dark drama comedy. Essi is a 30 year old working class woman who gave birth to her daughter when she was 15. All her life Essi has been afraid that the government would take her girl away. She must now battle with her bad self-image and aggression problem otherwise she might lose her daughter for real.

The 26 year-old Liv Karin Dahlstrøm was born in the small town of Nærbø in southern Norway. Passionate about storytelling, she applied to various media courses and gradually developed a strong interest in directing. She studied film at the Nordland College of Art & Film from 2007-2009. Her graduation film  won the Best Student Film and Best Newcomer Award at Stavanger Short Film Festival 2009. Dahlstrøm then enrolled at the prestigious Norwegian Film School of Lillehammer where she graduated with the film , a comical tale of jealousy set in a small seaside community. 

Jarle and Unnni have been together 25 years. On their Silver wedding anniversary, they feel there is ‘nothing left to celebrate'. Invited to attend their own son's wedding in India, they make a journey that eventually leads to their rediscovery of lost love. 

Born in Japan, Maremi Watanabe came as backpacker to the Nordic region and fell in love with the Scandinavian culture and atmosphere. In 2002 she attended the European Film College in Ebeltoft, Denmark. After a stint back in her native Japan where she worked in film, she came back to Denmark where she enrolled at the National Film School of Denmark's animation course. Her graduation film, the 2D animation , tells the story of a girl who lives alone inside a star, with her broken robot-father. Her job is to produce energy for the star to shine. Her monotonous life takes a new turn when a comet flies into her reactor. 

Watanabe says she is keen to film epic stories with strong visuals, using animation or live action. She intends to draw from her own cultural clash experience to create her own universe. Michel Gondry, Aki Kaurismäki are some of her role models. 
 is a 2D musical animation film, a fairy tale from Japan and Europe mixing heart-warming moments, colourful and joyous Christmas atmosphere with kitsch sci-fi elements and humour.