Orenda, Raptures and D Is for Distance to IFF Rotterdam
The Dutch festival takes place Jan 30 – Feb 9, 2025.
Image: Orenda, Max Smeds / Bufo
Orenda and Raptures to Big Screen Competition
Orenda and Raptures will have their world premiere in the Big Screen Competition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The winning film will receive a cash prize as well as support for the Dutch distribution of the film.
Orenda is a new film from veteran filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo. Written by Pirkko Saisio, the story unravels on a small lighthouse island in a remote archipelago, where two women (Saisio and Alma Pöysti) and their mutual past is about to collide. The film is produced by Mark Lwoff and Misha Jaari for Bufo. International sales are handled by The Yellow Affair.
The Swedish-Finnish co-production Raptures, set in the 1930s, tells the story of the religious Korpela movement. It is spoken in Meänkieli, a minority language related to Finnish. The film directed by Jon Blåhed stars several Finnish actors, including Jakob Öhrman and Jessica Grabowsky. The Finnish co-producer is Tiina Pesonen from Rabbit Films.
Both films premiere domestically later in the spring.
D Is for Distance to Harbour
D Is for Distance is a feature documentary directed by Christopher Petit and Emma Matthews. Its world premiere is in the Harbour section of IFFR. D Is for Distance is a montage of contemporary footage, archive and cinema history, creating an inquiry into the age of post-truth. It is about how one young man’s illness became representative of the woes of the world and how he triumphed against adversity to produce his vision through singular paintings that are a result of his countless ‘trips’ into the other world.
D Is for Distance is produced by Mika Taanila and Jussi Eerola for Testifilmi.
Other Finnish films at the festival
Of the films supported by the Finnish Film Foundation, Still Lives is screened in the Short & Mid-length section. The animated short film by Elli Vuorinen is from 2019.
In addition, the Rotterdam program includes the following Finnish films:
- Cast of Shadows (2025) by Sami van Ingen, in Cinema Regained
- From Behind the Teeth (2025) by Mox Mäkelä and Mikael Fortelius, in Harbour
- salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears (2025) by Nastja Säde Rönkkö, in Short & Mid-length
- Sweet Like Lemons (2023) by Jenny Jokela, in Education