Euthanizer awarded Best Screenplay at Tokyo International Film Festival
Best Screenplay at Tokyo International Film Festival
Writer-Director Teemu Nikki has been awarded Best Screenplay for his film Euthanizer at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival. The five-person international jury selecting the winners was headed by American actor Tommy Lee Jones.
Euthanizer was the first Finnish film in the festivals' main competition in 24 years. The previous Finnish film selected for competition in Tokyo was Aki Kaurismäki's Take Care of Your Scarf in 1994.
Euthanizer, starring Matti Onnismaa, will be released in Finnish cinemas on November 24th. The film is a violent summer noir. It tells the story of Veijo Haukka, a 50-year-old mechanic, whose second job is to put sick pets to sleep but who decides to save the wrong person’s dog. The film's themes revolve around animal rights, suffering and death. The real story is not about good or evil but the stupidity of absolute men.
Euthanizer was produced by Nikki and Jani Pösö for It's Alive Films. The film had its world premier at the Toronto Film Festival in September and next it will be screened at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
Teemu Nikki is a self-educated filmmaker and son of a pig-farmer from Sysmä, Finland. He has directed dozens of short films and hundreds of commercials and music videos – and some feature films and TV shows too. That makes him a genre-free and thus genre-enthusiastic director and storyteller.
