Tuffi Films fiction feature Stupid Young Heart cast revealed

Filming has started for Tuffi Films’ feature Stupid Young Heart, directed by Selma Vilhunen, written by Kirsikka Saari. The main cast are newcomers Jere Ristseppä and Rosa Honkonen, while established acting talent includes Ville Haapasalo, Pihla Viitala and Katja Küttner. The shooting started in the first week of September 2017 and the domestic cinema release will be in October 2018.

Stupid Young Heart is an edgy and warm drama about suburban teenagers, who unexpectedly have to deal with grown up problems of pregnancy, while extreme right wing ideas enter their multicultural neighbourhood.

The film is a Finnish-Swedish-Dutch co-production. The international crew includes the DOP Lisabi Fridell, the Set Designer Eva Torsvall and the Editor Michal Leszczylowski, who is known for his work with Lukas Moodysson.

Director Selma Vilhunen says:

”Kirsikka Saari’s script has many layers. It is at the same time a sensitive and funny description of young people in this world that is at a turning point, with its adults more or less lost and afraid. The script looks at weakness in people and hatred from the eye level, aspiring to see beyond prejudice. Stupid Young Heart is fiction, but the nucleus is in the reality in which we live. Our talented young actors lead us into this reality, they recognise the story. It is a great pleasure to work with such brave and skillful people as my actors Jere Ristseppä and Rosa Honkonen. I feel that together we have embarked on a long journey and when we return, none of us will be the same as before.” 
Vilhunen and Saari have previously collaborated in the short film Do I Have To Take Care of Everything? (2013, Tuffi Films), that received an Oscar nomination in 2014. Vilhunen’s debut fiction feature Little Wing (2016, Making Movies) premiered in the Discovery competition at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize this Autumn.

The film is produced by Tuffi’s Elli Toivoniemi and Venla Hellstedt. Stupid Young Heart is supported by the Finnish Film Foundation, Yle, Nordisk Film, The Church Media Foundation, Eurimages, The Netherlands Film Fund, Swedish Film Institute and Creative Europe. Co-producing partners are Hob AB from Sweden and the Dutch company Windmill Film.

Contact: Producer Venla Hellstedt Tuffi Films Tel: +358 40 930 9905