Dog Nail Clipper
(Koirankynnen leikkaaja)

Script:

Markku Pölönen, perustuu Veikko Huovisen romaaniin

Director:

Markku Pölönen

Cinematography:

Kari Sohlberg

Set design:

Minna Santakari

Costumes:

Pentti Tillder

Sound:

Heikki Innanen, Jari Innanen

Music:

Vesa Mäkinen

Editing :

Jukka Nykänen

Production:

Kari Sara, Fennada Filmi Oy

Shooting:

17.2–29.3.2003, 7/03

Budget:

1.300.000 € (SES 640.000 €)

Release:

13.2.2004

Actors:

Peter Franzen, Ahti Kuoppala, Taisto Reimaluoto, Leo Lastumäki

Internet:

www.koirankynnenleikkaaja.net

Synopsis:

The basic story is simple; the world, roles and dialogue are created for this fiction. The main character is Mertsi, an idealist, who even went to war as a volunteer and returned crippled. His overwhelming idealism transforms itself into a small act – that of clipping a dog’s nails – and becomes an obsession, and in the end – fails.

Mertsi comes to a house owned by a man named Kuosmanen, with him a work order slip which Kuosmanen wrote as a joke, to clip the nails of his dog. But the operation fails miserably – the nails remain untrimmed and the dog bites Mertsi’s wrist. His dream is shattered and the hand becomes infected. But people are basically good, and goodness triumphs over obstacles. When Mertsi meets the doctor that treated him during the war, he waves his white bandaged hand as if to say: The world may bite but life goes on!

Festivals:

Festival du cinema nordique, Rouen, France, 17.–28.3.2004

Festival du Cannes, France, in market, 12.–23.5.2004

Open Russian Film Festival “Kinotavr”, Sochi, Russia, 1.–12.6.2005

Shanghai International Film Festival, China, 5.–13.6.2004

Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland, 16.–20.6.2004

Espoo Ciné, Finland, 24.–29.8.2004

Filmfest Hamburg, Germany, 23.–30.9.2004

Nordische Filmtage, Lübeck, Germany, 4.–7.11.2004

Scanorama, Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Lithuania, 11.11.–2.12.2004

Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn, Estonia, 22.11.–7.12.2004

Finnish Film Week, St. Petersburg, Russia, 26.11.–3.12.2004

Finnish Film Week, Petrozavodsk, Russia, 3.–15.12.2004

Finnish Film Week, Poland, 7.–12.12.2004

Scandinavian Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 14.–16.1.2005

Finnish Film Week, Moscow, Russia, 14.–21.1.2005

Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway, 18.–23.1.2005

Finnish Film Week in Nishni Novgorod, Russia, 21.1.–10.2.2005

Berlinale 2005, Germany, 10.–20.2.2005, in Market

11th Bradford Film Festival, UK, 4.–19.3.2005

Finnish Film and Literature Event, The Finnish Institute is Paris, France, 21.–24.3.2005

Scandinavia House, New York, USA, 23.3.–6.4.2005

22nd Annual Minneapolis / St. Paul Int. Film Festival, MN, USA, 1.–16.4.2005

Nordic House, Faroe Islands, 6.4.2005

Finnish Films at BAM, New York, NY, USA, 3.–8.5.2005

Finland Days, Estonia, 17.–22.5.2005

Festroia, Portugal, 28.5.–5.6.2005

Open Russian Film Festival “Kinotavr”, Sochi, Russia, 1.–12.6.2005

Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada, 29.9.–14.10.2005

Days of Finnish Cinema, Ukraine, 12.–26.9.2005

Nordic Film Festival in Dublin, Ireland, 14.–20.10.2005

Finnish Film Weeks, Strasbourg, France, 9.–22.11.2005

Portland International Film Festival, OR, USA, 10.–25.2.2006

Febiofest, Czech Republic, 23.–31.3.2006

Finnish Institute in Paris, France, 3.10.2006

Screenings at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, USA, August 2007

Kalingrad EU Film Festival 2008

Febiofest, Czech Republic, 23.–31.3.2008

Bucharest, Romania, 25.4.–15.5.2008

Forest Film Week, Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia, 8.–11.5.2008

Awards & Prizes:

Festival du Cinéma Nordique, Rouen, France, 17.–28.3.2004
Audience Award

Filmfest Hamburg, Germany, 23.–30.9.2004
Hamburger Abendblatt Audience Award “Europe´s Box-Office Hit”

Jussi Awards 2004, 6.2.2005
Best Film
Best Direction (Markku Pölönen)
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter Franzén)
Best Script (Markku Pölönen)
Best Cinematography (Kari Sohlberg)

21st Festroia – International Film Festival, Setúbal, Portugal, 28.5.–5.6.2005
Homage to the Finnish Cinema – Golden Dolphin for the actor Peter Franzén

Production

Fennada Filmi Oy
Kolmas linja 5
00530 Helsinki
Tel. +358 9 774 4780, +358 9 774 4780
Fax. +358 9 730 734
Email. kari.sara@fennada-filmi.fi

Distribution in Finland

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Finland
Kaisaniemenkatu 2 B
00100 Helsinki
Tel. +358 9 8562 9500
Fax. +358 9 8562 9550

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