“There will be blood” Red Snow and Vampyr debut at Cannes

Christmas just got a whole lot bloodier thanks to Red Snow, a brand new horror film directed by Ilja Rautsi, about a family reunion gone, well, horribly wrong.

Rautsi, known for his script for Hatching (Pahanhautuja) and recent Berlinale premiere Nightborn (Yön lapsi), will be making his directorial debut backed by Finland’s Bufo, Allfilm and Hobab – as well as Charades.

“It’s as if you took Evil Dead II, Hellraiser, Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Gremlins, and threw them in a blender. And injected it in your spine, like in The Substance. Then you might vomit something like this,” he said.

“Horror is not about realism, but for me, it’s at its best when it’s about emotional realism. We all feel things more than we express them. Horror lets you show that, and that’s what I really love about it.”

The film, apart from its violent scenes, will feature some “provocative ideas about family and gender roles, and society”.

Is Rautsi exorcising his own Christmas demons?

“No, I just hate happy people.”

“When you are an emo teen and you grow out of childhood, you start to see the empty ritual of it all. You are lonely and looking for connection, but you grow up in Finland, so no way.”

Later, he told Nordisk Film & TV Fond: “It deals with heavy subjects, but then I also wanted it to be really enjoyable. At certain times it really punches you in the gut, but because it’s so entertaining, it uses that hopefully to its advantage. It’s a fun rollercoaster ride that leads you to something real and something serious, and something that, I feel, is genuine.”

More scares will come courtesy of Vampyr, in which a famous artist finally reveals his terrifying past.

“It’s a mystery thriller, so it’s not very violent. But there will be blood,” said Cornelia Boysen of Maipo Film, who produces alongside Synnøve Hørsdal. Boysen called it “fun and scary”. The film is a co-production between Norway and Sweden, with Malin Söderlund (Unlimited Stories) also attached.

In the film, a struggling illustrator finds himself on the verge of madness when he’s dragged into a dangerous murder mystery that uncovers a horrifying truth about the world-famous painter Edvard Munch, and potentially rewrites history as we know it. The film is based on the book by Steffen Kverneland.

“We play with genre [cinema], and luckily for us, all the groundwork was already done by the author of the novel. The whole story is actually very respectful, and we shot at the Munch museum. They are supportive of this project, too.”

Maipo, which has already dabbled in fantasy and family features, “would love to do more genre films,” she said.

“Nordic genre films travel very well. When we first read the book, we went back, thinking: ‘Is that true?’ Now, we want others to do the same. We are very proud of this film, and we have very high expectations for both this one and Low Expectations (Lave forventninger).”

Eivind Landsvik’s drama was also presented during the showcase, as well as the Dogma 25 film Mr. Nawashi by Isabella Eklöf, a deep dive into the authentic world of sexual dominance and submission, produced by Louise Vesth for Zentropa.

Other titles included A Favour by Grímur Hákonarson. This 1960s-set story is about two brothers who are some of the first inhabitants of a new suburban town in Iceland – with producers Grímar Jónsson and Sara Nassim also present at the fest – and Lisa & Lilly by Julia Lindström, produced by Josefine Tengblad for Nordic Drama Queens.

Finally, Nikolaj Arcel brought My Fairytale Life (Mit livs eventyr) – produced by Louise Vesth and Tine Mikkelsen for Zentropa – about Hans Christian Andersen. He will be played by Casper Kjær.

Among these new titles Low Expectations, Red Snow, Vampyr, A Favour and Lisa & Lily are already supported by NFTVF.