FINLAND: Paha Maa (Frozen Land). 2005

Director: Aku Louhimies
Stars: Jasper Pääkkönen, Mikko Leppilampi, Pamela Tola, Petteri Summanen.
Release date: Finland - 14 Jan 2005
Genre: Drama
Length: 130 mins

It just won 8 awards out of 10 nominations at the Finnish version of the Oscars, the Jussis.

I seriously thought we would have had this at the Sydney Film International Festival last year. How wrong I was. Those bastards at the Melbourne film fest had it a month later. So there's no way they will have it on this year. The trailer looks fantastic. Even if I did see it a year ago. Been on my top 10 list all that time. DVD here I come.

Synopsis
Tuomas is a young computer hacker who wishes to accomplish something significant and useful to the society. Tuomas's best friend Niko has more of a rock mentality than him, leading a more hedonistic life in the world of drugs and alcohol. About 20 years old, Elina is a brave and intelligent young activist studying history and political science at the university. Elina and Tuomas have had a happy relationship for over a year and are planning to get married. A chain reaction of events starts after Niko forges a 500 euro note. In the film's other plot, the attack planned by Tuomas and Elina on an information network has grave consequences.

Frozen Land is an intense, fast-paced and realistic depiction of today´s Finland. It contains several dramatic and tragic events and plenty of action, but also warmth. The film has an episodic structure, where the stories are not always linked to each other in a chronological order.

• Trailer 19MBs. Downloadable QT.

CHILE: Kiltro. 2006

Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Stars: Marko Zaror, Caterina Jadresic, Miguel Angel De Luca, Daniela Lhorente
Release date: 2006
Genre: Martial Arts/Romance
Length: ?

Crazy. The Swedes, The Dutch, the Germans, the Finns & now the Chileans. All unexpected places to find a martial art film, yet here is the South American one. One look at the trailer & it looks like they had the skills & then decided, 'Hey, let's make a kick arse kung-fu film'. Storywise it doesn't look like much, but Zaror, who is renowed as The Rock's stunt double, has the obvious abilities.

Synopsis
Zaror, a Chilean native who has trained extensively in karate and tae kwon do, plays a violent street gangster, whose life is forever changed when a powerful martial artist looking for vengeance kills his mother and kidnaps the woman he loves. This gangster journeys to a legendary martial arts master (Man Soo Yoon) and learns the honored path of the warrior. He emerges a master himself and sets out on his own mission of vengeance and to rescue his true love.

• Film website
• Marko Zaror website
• Chilean martial arts site with Kiltro link. Spanish language.
• Stunt footage 11MB. Downloadable QT file.
• Trailer 14.3MB Downloadable WMV.

FRANCE: Renaissance. 2006

Director: Christian Volckman
Stars: It's animated stupid.
Release date: France - 15 March 2006
Genre: Animation/B&W/Action
Length:

Holy crap. Sin City was a live action B&W comic come to life, well this is a B&W comic book come to life, literally. It's amazing looking. Incredibly done. It feels wierd, as though it was a rotoscoped version of an action flick. And at $14 million Euros, it's a hefty price tag for a French animated genre picture. Definitely a new way of animating, yet keeping an old film noir approach. Imagine Richard Linklater's recent fetish with animation, yet directed by Luc Besson in black & white. Just watch the damn trailer.

Synopsis
Paris, December 2037. Ilona Tasuievn, a young scientist jealoused by everyone for her beauty and intelligence, is brutally kidnapped. In a high-tech environment where every action is controlled and filmed, Karas, the criticized policeman who’s in charge of the investigation, feels soon a presence around... He’s not the only one on Ilona’s tracks, and his pursuers are ready for anything for arriving ahead of him.

The more he nears the truth, the more the noose is tightening : Ilona is the key of discovery which can make Man equal than God, the Renaissance protocol. The cop doesn’t know anymore if the missing young woman is victim or torturer. Angel or demon.

Finding her becomes a question of life or death for Karas, but maybe too for all our civilisation...

• Website
• Trailer Downloadable QT.

RUSSIA: Ненасытные (Insatiable). 2005

Director: Ruslan Baltzer
Stars: Марк Богатырев, Никита Ефремов, Эдуард Ланге, Артем Ткаченко
Release date: 2006?
Genre: Crime/Comedy
Length: ?

Took me forever & a day to work this film out. I mean finding out some details in English was impossible. Babelfish again. Stumbled upon the trailer & then went from there. When you watch the trailer you'll see why I had to find out more. It looks stark raving mad. Those Russians are going into hyperdrive at teh moment. It's a bloody shame that hardly anyone in the Western world will ever get to see them on the big screen. Even on DVD tehy are proving hard to find with English subtitles. The directors previous films look crazy as well. Dazhe ne dumay! (Don't Even Think!) in 2003 & a sequel the year later..

Synopsis
I think its about some porn filmmakers, some hip hop kids, some gangsters, wrestling, lawlessness, marijuana & gun toting B & D wierdos.

• Film Production website It's all in Russian.
• Trailer