Finnish release Letters to Father Jacob wins Main Prize at Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival

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The Finnish film Postia pappi Jaakobille (”Letters to Father Jacob”), directed by Klaus Härö, has won the Main Prize of the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg in Germany, held from November 5th to 15th.
      ”The jury immediately concurred that the Main Prize should go to the Finnish film 'Postia Pappi Jaakobille'. With this film, the director Klaus Härö has created a genuine work of art which makes the audience feel both elated and taken seriously at the same time. This is how cinema should be", the international jury declared.
     
”The award will have a significant impact on the international sales of the movie”, said producer Rimbo Salomaa, speaking at the festival.
      So far, the film has been sold only to a few countries, but according to Salomaa, the victory in Mannheim increased the demand immediately.
      A total of some 100,000 viewers have seen the movie in Finland and abroad.
      The main roles in the picture are played by actors Kaarina Hazard and Heikki Nousiainen (Jacob).
      Letters to Father Jacob is a warm-hearted and touching story of a life-sentence prisoner who has just been pardoned.
      When she is released from prison, she is offered a job at a secluded parsonage where she starts working as the personal assistant for Jacob, a blind pastor whose mission in life is to answer the letters sent to him by people asking for his help.
     
In early November, the movie received two awards at the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck, Germany, namely the Interfilm Church Prize and the Audience Award.
      Letters to Father Jacob has also been chosen as Finland's candidate for the Best Foreign-Language Film category at the 2010 Academy Awards. The final Oscar nominations will be announced in February 2010.


Links:
  IMDb: Letters to Father Jacob
  The Laureates of the 58th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg 2009
  Finnish Film Foundation: Letters to Father Jacob

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