Finland’s first carbon negative film filmed in the Turku Archipelago
- The Wait, Aku Louhimies’ new feature film, is the first carbon negative film filmed in Finland
- The sustainably produced film will premiere in February 2021
- The film was shot in the Turku Archipelago this August
Aku Louhimies is one of the most successful directors in Finland. He is best known for his latest film, the record-breaking Unknown Soldier (2017). He wrote the upcoming film The Wait together with actress Inka Kallén.
The intimate love story was inspired by the stories of famous Finnish novelist Juhani Aho, written in the early 1900s. In Louhimies’ film, Aho’s characters and timeless themes of love, honesty and the search for happiness are brought to the modern day in the summer-time archipelago.
”West Finland Film Commission helped us search for the locations. This scenery is also very familiar to me. [The archipelago of Turku] is a beautiful part of Finland, but it is rarely seen in films”, Louhimies tells. “We have been very lucky with the weather and this location has been great, all in all a successful choice for a filming location.”
Inka Kallén will portray the protagonist Elli, whilst actor Aku Hirviniemi plays the role of Elli’s husband. Actor Andrei Alén (known from Unknown Soldier) is an old friend from the past who shows up and causes disruption between the couple, as does the other summer guest, portrayed by Adeliina Arajuuri.
Finland’s first carbon negative production
In The Wait, sustainability is not only an important part of the characters’ lifestyle, but the project represents Finland’s first carbon negative film production. Sustainability was taken into account in all of the production choices. A Finnish non-profit organisation Compensate collaborated with the filmmakers and helped with calculating and compensating the carbon footprint of the production.
”We knew from the start that we wanted to film in Finland. It was important to us to avoid unnecessary traveling. Almost all costumes were recycled, second-hand, and made from good materials. Most of our electricity came from solar panels and we used electric cars – even our disposable cups were made without plastic”, Louhimies tells about some of the green choices made in the production.
The recycled costumes came from a secondhand fashion brand Relove. The production used electric and hybrid cars from Audi and Volkswagen for a sustainable way of transportation.
The Wait is distributed by Aurora Studios, a new company focusing on film development, financing and distribution. The film will premiere in cinemas in 2021. It will also be released on the C More streaming service. MTV, a major commercial channel in Finland, is one of the main financiers of the film. West Finland Film Commission, which is one of Turku Science Park Ltd’s services, supports the film.
VIDEO (in Finnish) ExperienceTurku Senior Executive Teija Raninen interviews director Aku Louhimies.