Betoniyö
Concrete Night
14-year-old Simo is still searching for a sense of self and the ability to protect himself from his surroundings. He lacks his own identity. Simo and his big brother Ilkka are the sons of an unpredictable single mother. Their chaotic home is located deep in the heart of a concrete jungle in Helsinki. Ilkka has one day of freedom left before starting his prison sentence. The mother persuades Simo to spend the last night with his brother. Pirjo Honkasalo's bold and analytical urban film is a dream-like odyssey about a young boy's fragile mind and the loss of innocence.
Director's Biography
Pirjo Honkasalo, born 1947 in Helsinki, Finland, is a highly established director, cinematographer and screenwriter. She won numerous prestigious awards for her work and also was Finland’s first female cinematographer to shoot a feature film. CONCRETE NIGHT had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in 2013 and was screened at several international festivals afterwards. // Films (as director, selected): TULIPÄÄ (Flame Top, 1980), TULENNIELIJÄ (Fire Eater, 1998), MELANCHOLIAN 3 HUONETTA (The 3 Rooms of Melancholia, 2004, doc), BETONIYÖ (Concrete Night, 2013)
European Panorama Fiction 2014
Pirjo Honkasalo
Finland / Sweden / Denmark 2013
black and white
96 minutes
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Pirjo Honkasalo, Pirkko Saisio (adapted from Saisio's novel “Betoniyö”, published in 1981)
Cinematography Peter Flinckenberg
Editing Niels Pagh Andersen
Sound/Sounddesign Jan Alvermark
Music Frid & Frid (Karl Frid, Pär Frid)
With Johannes Brotherus, Jari Virman, Juhan Ulfsak, Anneli Karppinen
Production
Bufo Työpajankatu 2 A R1 D 00580 Helsinki Finland T +358 41 532 3394 helena@bufo.fi www.bufo.fi
