Danish Nordisk Film pulls out of Mannerheim film project

Backer indicates that Solar Films did not secure sufficient additional funding for EUR 10 million venture

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Shortcomings in the international financing of Finnish Hollywood director Renny Harlin’s upcoming Mannerheim biopic have caused Nordisk Film - which belongs to the large Egmont media group - to pull out of the project, reports the Danish company’ managing director Allan Hansen.
      “We feel strongly about this project, but before the film’s funding has been sorted out in its entirety, we are not willing to proceed with the venture”, Hansen says.
     
The makers of the film about the legendary WW II Finnish War Marshal and sixth President of Finland (1944-46) C.G.E. Mannerheim released a statement on Friday, according to which the Danish mother company has pulled out of the supplementary funding, referring to the international economic crisis.
      According to Hansen, the economic crisis is the main reason why the film cannot find other financiers besides Nordisk Film.
      “In this day and age it is really difficult to produce a Finnish-language film with a budget that is of international class.”
     
Hansen says that the film’s Finnish production company Solar Films made the decision to start shooting the film single-handedly. This decision had to be cancelled last Friday, at least for the time being.
      “We tried really hard to finance the film, and people at Solar Films have done the same. But we also have to act responsibly, and we cannot start a large project unless the entire funding is in order.”
      According to Hansen, the Mannerheim film is the only production that Nordisk Film has pulled out of because of the economic crisis.
      “On the other hand, at the moment it was our only production, so we were in with an international-level budget. Usually our projects are funded in their entirety before we move forward with them.”
     
The film’s Finnish producer Markus Selin does not want to comment on Hansen’s views. He still insists that the film’s funding was in order before Nordisk withdrew from it.
      “Hansen probably does not know very well how we finance films. He has been in the movie business for two months”, Selin comments.
     
Selin explains that he spent the entire Monday in meetings trying to get the film’s funding together. “Looks good”, he says.
      According to Selin, additional funding is being sought at the moment primarily from domestic sources. Selin does not want to mention any specific sums or comment on the possible recommencement of shooting.
      “Everybody understands that you do not get the funding together for a ten-million-euro film in one day.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Renny Harlin´s film crew for Mannerheim biopic includes double Oscar winner (3.12.2008)

Links:
  Mannerheim on the Internet Movie Database
  Solar Films
  C.G.E. Mannerheim (Wikipedia)
  Renny Harlin (Wikipedia)

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