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They came with their visions for the offbeat and the absurd, with the genre-bending and narrative-defying, some bearing props as they pitched their projects under trippy psychedelic lighting in Helsinki’s historic Bio Rex theater. If you wanted to gauge the mood at the first edition of the Finnish Film Affair’s Finnish Weird pitching session, it was summed up by the creator who greeted the audience at the start of his two-minute pitch with a rousing, “Hello to all the weirdos in the room!”

A new addition to the annual industry event, which runs parallel to the Helsinki Intl. Film Festival, Finnish Weird — or F-Weird, as it’s already affectionately known — was unveiled this year to showcase unusual, daring and unexplored ideas across a range of formats while defying traditional standards and embracing uniqueness.

According to Finnish Film Affair head Alisha Hasan, the event was launched in an effort...

The thriller Love Is the Monster has received a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement, so production is now underway in Canada with Madeline Zima of Californication and Twin Peaks: The Return and Leonardo Nam of Westworld and Werewolf by Night in the lead roles.

Directed by Alex Noyer (Sound of Violence), who also wrote the screenplay with Hannu Aukia and Blair Bathory, Love Is the Monster follows a couple, Ana (Zima) and Justin (Nam) who, rocked by infidelity, attend an exclusive couples retreat in Finland, under the golden rays of the summer’s midnight sun. They join other couples from other parts of the world to experience the transformative teachings of the shaman and healer, Tiina, inspired by the ancient Finnish goddess of love and fertility, Lempo. But the idyllic setting soon takes a turn…

Deadline reports that Zima and Nam are joined in the cast by Moe Jeudy-Lamour (Ted Lasso...

Up next from Sound of Violence filmmaker Alex Noyer is Love is the Monster, a new thriller that draws on Finnish mythology Deadline reports today.

Madeline Zima and Leonardo Nam star, and production is currently underway through a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement.

Love Is the Monster centers on “a couple, Ana (Zima) and Justin (Nam) who, rocked by infidelity, attend an exclusive couples retreat in Finland, under the golden rays of the summer’s midnight sun. They join other couples from other parts of the world to experience the transformative teachings of the shaman and healer, Tiina, inspired by the ancient Finnish goddess of love and fertility, Lempo. But the idyllic setting soon takes a turn….”

Intriguingly, Wikipedia offers this description about the goddess Lempo: “After Christianity came to Finland, the reputation of Lempo worsened: it is portrayed in the folklore usually as an erratic spirit, as love can be capricious,...

Exclusive: Madeline Zima (Californication) and Leonardo Nam (Westworld) are currently in production in Canada on Love Is the Monster, a new thriller they’re leading for filmmaker Alex Noyer (Sound of Violence) that has landed a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement. Others set to star include Moe Jeudy-Lamour (Ted Lasso), Kimberly-Sue Murray (Trader), Kristina Tonteri-Young (Warrior Nun), Milla Puolakanaho (Omerta), Tatu Sinisalo (Sisu) and Sheila Mccarthy (Women Talking).

Written bv Noyer, Hannu Aukia and Blair Bathory, Love Is the Monster centers on a couple, Ana (Zima) and Justin (Nam) who, rocked by infidelity, attend an exclusive couples retreat in Finland, under the golden rays of the summer’s midnight sun. They join other couples from other parts of the world to experience the transformative teachings of the shaman and healer, Tiina, inspired by the ancient Finnish goddess of love and fertility, Lempo. But the idyllic setting soon takes a turn….

Drawing on...