The two films are directed by Teemu Nikki, Nordic Council Film Prize nominated for Euthanizer, and Cannes selected last spring for his short film All Inclusive.

The distribution deal marks the first collaboration between Helsinki-based It’s Alive Films -co-founded by Nikki and producer Jani Pösö- and Italian firm Intramovies, which boasts a catalogue of over 500 titles including classics from Fellini, Visconti, Antonioni and Pasolini.

"In these strange Covid-19 times, it’s really nice to have a long-established sales company, and I’m happy that our films will be in the same back catalogue as La Dolce Vita!" told Pösö to nordicfilmandtvnews.com.

Marco Valerio Fusco, Intramovies Head of Acquisitions and Production said: ”I had the chance to meet Jani at First Cut+ in Trieste in January where he was presenting Nimby and then again in Göteborg at the Nordic Film Market where he was presenting A Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic. It was a long courtship and I am very happy that we were able to close both films. We were impressed by the capacity of Teemu Nikki to tackle successfully on such different stories, with a depth of human feelings understanding that is extremely rare,” said the sales executive.

A Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (Sokea mies, joka ei halunnut nähdä Titanicia) which just picked up the €50,000 Eurimages Lab Project Award in Haugesund, is the story of Jaakko, a wheelchair-bound blind man, prisoner in his own home. A film buff, he has seen all films before loosing his sight, but not Titanic that he has kept unopened in his DVD collection. When his girlfriend - herself disabled and a fan of Titanic - tells him her health is declining, he sets out on a perilous journey to meet her at her home. During his trip, he momentarily loses his faith and trust in humanity, before reaching his goal.

Explaining to nordicfilmandtvnews.com the genesis for the film, Pösö says Nikki wrote it for an old friend of his, Petri Poikkolainen, a trained actor, now physically handicapped and blind, due to a severe form of MS (multiple sclerosis). The latter plays the title role.

"The film is pure fiction, but the main character has the same physical condition as the actor,” says Pösö. ”The film’s uniqueness is also in its visual style”, continues the producer. ”We’ve filmed from a blind person’s point of view. Therefore sound designer will be crucial, and to represent the main character’s acute sense of touch, everything he touches you can see, and everything he feels will also be visible via close ups. But everything else will be blurred. We’ve achieved this by covering the lens with plastic wrap!”

The project is backed by Yle, with support fro the Finnish Film Foundation, the Tampere Film Fund and Church Media Foundation. B-Plan will handle the domestic distribution in the fall 2021.

Meanwhile the drama comedy Nimby is set to open in Finland on October 10. Scanbox will handle distribution, as part of a multi-pic deal with It’s Alive Films.

The film focuses on Mervi (19) who travels from Berlin to her home-town in Finland, with her girlfriend Kata of Iranian origin, to confront her parents and come out of the closet. But things don't go as planned. 

“It is a comedy take on the hipster intolerance,” said Pösö.

It’s Alive Films’ other projects include their first family film Snot and Splash, pitched at New Nordic Films’ Nordic Co-production Market. The film based on a novel by Finland’s legendary singer-songwriter Juice Leskinen, will be Nikki’s most ambitious film to date, with a €2.9m budget. Filming is set to start in 2021.

The fast-expanding company has also several TV projects in its pipeline, including a third season of Mental, sold to France and Germany for remakes.