One of Finland’s hottest new talents with Alli Haapasalo (Girl Picture) and Tania Anderson (The Mission), Bergholm has received sensational reviews at Sundance with her first feature Hatching and caught the eye of several major distributors.

According to Screendaily, Wild Bunch International has sold the film to France (The Jokers), Germany (Capelight Pictures), Spain (Vertigo), Italy (Adler), Benelux (The Searchers), Switzerland (Praesens), Portugal (Alambique), Hungary (ADS Service), the Czech Republic (Film Europe), Japan (Gaga), Australia (Rialto), Taiwan (Proview Entertainment), Turkey (Bir), the Middle East (Gulf Film), Mexico (Canibal Networks), with JNC Global securing rights for Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Purple Plan for Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

The first major buyers to snap the Finnish film ahead of its global launch were Picturehouse for the UK/Ireland and IFC Midnight for North America. The film is due to open March via Nordisk Film and via Non-Stop Entertainment in Sweden and Denmark.

The coming-of age psycho drama written by Ilja Raitsi, centres on 12-year old gymnast Tinja who tries desperately to please her mother, a woman obsessed with presenting the image of a perfect family life to the world, through her popular blog. Once night, Tinja finds a strange egg. She hides it and keeps it warm; when it hatches, a creature beyond belief emerges.

In a statement, Bergholm said: “the film is ultimately about the fear of losing control, which I can personally relate to. Like Tinja, I also had a closet full of imaginary monsters. I knew my monsters so well that I became attached to them. My biggest fear was that one day they would come out of my closet. What would happen if everything I’m afraid of and everything that is flawed in me could run away and I wouldn’t be able to control them anymore?”

The graduate from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki said she made the film for “both friends of genre films, but especially for audiences who are traditionally afraid to watch horror films but want to see powerful stories about female emotions.”

The film produced by Mika Ritalahti for Silva Mysterium received its first development support grant from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, as part of the Fund’s former Nordic Genre Boost scheme, on top of production support. It was co-produced by Sweden’s Hob AB and Norway’s Evil Doghouse Production, with co-financing from Yle and support from the Finnish Film Foundation and the Swedish Film Institute.

Speaking to www.nordicfilmandtvnews.com, Ritalahti said the film’s extraordinary launch at Sundance is “a great reward for the whole artistic team, involved in the film. the DOP [Jarkko T Laine], Production designer [Päivi Kettunen] and costumes designer [Ulrika Sjölin] were all mentioned in the reviews. I feel that Hanna has made a fabulous job by setting Ilja Rautsi’s great script on fire, with her screen adaptation. To be described as a weird love child of “America Beauty” and grotesque “ET” feels amazing. We also believe that getting recognition from the genre people is very encouraging for Finnish horror films generally. “

Last weekend, the film won the Grand Jury Prize and Youth Jury Prize at France’s Gerardmer Fantastic Film Festival. It is screening this week at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market.