For producer Marko Röhr, the film’s success is down to the sweeping and unique wildlife material, patiently filmed over eight years by Suhonen and Saarniluoto, and the narration focusing on myths and legends of Finnish forests that made it appealing for audiences of all ages across the country. “We’ve had a lot of schools who came to see the film, as well as elderly people who can’t enjoy going to the forests anymore,” says Röhr, himself a fervent environmentalist. For him, screen digitization has also been crucial to the film’s success in rural areas and small to mid-size cities. “In some towns on the Eastern part of Finland the film beat James Bond’s Skyfall and in one cinema it sold more tickets than Titanic! Over 70% of all tickets sold were from cinemas outside of the Finnkino circuit,” notes Röhr.
Tale of a Forest’s music composer Panu Aalto recently won the prestigious International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Score.
At the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, the Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK will represent the film and a different narration will be put together for the international version. Enthused by the success of the €350,000 film, Röhr is in the process of making another documentary in the same genre, Tale of a Lake that will focus on Finland’s 200,000 surface and underground lakes. Röhr will co-direct.
Meanwhile MRP Matila Röhr Production has another hit on Finnish screens: the family film Rolli and the Golden Key that has sold nearly 200,000 tickets. Two other films based on the popular ‘Rolli’ the Troll franchise will follow.