ACE Producers’ Films took top prizes at the closing cerimony at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

COMPETITION
Palme d’Or
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS by Ruben Östlund
Produced by Erik Hemmendorff (ACE Sweden)
Co-produced by Giorgos Karnavas (ACE Greece) and Per Damgaard Hansen (ACE Denmark)

Grand Prix — TIE
CLOSE by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Laurette Schillings (ACE the Netherlands), Frans van Gestel (ACE The Netherlands) and Jacques Henri Bronckart (ACE Belgium)

Jury Prize — TIE
LE OTTO MONTAGNE by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen
Produced by Mario Gianani (ACE Italy)

Special prize for Cannes’ 75th anniversary
TORI & LOKITA by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Co-produced by Bart Van Langendonck (ACE Belgium)

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Actress
CORSAGE by Marie Kreutzer
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE Germany), Janine Jackowski (ACE Germany), Bernard Michaux (ACE Luxembourg), Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE France)

Best Screenplay
MEDITERRANEAN FEVER by Maha Haj
Produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE Germany) and Janine Teerling (ACE Cyprus)

CRITICS’ WEEK
THE WOODCUTTER’S STORY, Gan Foundation Award for Distribution
Produced by Jussi Rantamäki (ACE Finland)
Co-produced by Koji Nelissen (ACE The Netherlands) and Jamila Wenske (ACE Germany)

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
ONE FINE MORNING, Best European Film Prize
Produced by Philipp Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)
Co-produced by Roman Paul (ACE Germany).

An ACE project has been selected at Critics’ Week: first feature film of director Mikko Myllylahti, “The Woodcutter Story” is a international co-production with two ACE members on board from Finnish Aamu Film Company and Dutch Keplerfilm. The two met during ACE 27.

ACE Producers got the chance to briefly interview Jussi Rantamäki (ACE Finland), co-owner of Aamu Film Company, on the different stages of the project and the role played in it by ACE Producers and its Network.

Jussi, can you briefly introduce yourself and your company?

Aamu Film Company is a Finnish production company co-owned by me and Emilia [Haukka]. We strive from a director-driven cinema, where we select a limited number of directors and work closely with them from their shorts to international films. We don’t choose projects, but directors, by trying to build an understanding of their artistic vision. The director from “The Woodcutter Story” is one of our oldest collaborators. We have produced his short in 2012 until his feature debut now.

At what point of its development and of your career did you get selected for ACE?

We had just premiered “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki”, which was my first feature as a producer and as an entrepreneur. It won the Un Certain Regard Award in 2016. It was a nice upgrade to decide to go for “The Woodcutter Story”, and I applied for ACE 27 with that project.

How did it benefit from ACE?

The project got a great boost, especially during the Content Development Workshop. Koji Nelissen [ACE the Netherlands, in the picture with Jussi Rantamäki] was interested in it, and we finally met 1 year after in Cannes. Another ACE 27 producer was super interested, but at the end we opted for a Finnish-Dutch coproduction.
Also, at that time I needed to rethink how to grow as a company. My vision for the future was not molded enough and, in this context, it was fruitful to be at ACE. It was an amazing group. We are still in contact through social medias, and we try to gather during festivals and events throughout the year, so even outside of ACE context. I believe the strength of ACE is to create long-term relations with directors and film professionals and to reflect with other producers on the challenges and opportunities of the job.

COMPETITION

CLOSE by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Laurette Schillings (ACE the Netherlands) and Frans van Gestel (ACE The Netherlands)

LE OTTO MONTAGNE by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen
Produced by Mario Gianani (ACE Italy)

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS by Ruben Östlund
Produced by Erik Hemmendorff (ACE Sweden)
Co-produced by Giorgos Karnavas (ACE Greece) and Per Damgaard Hansen (ACE Denmark)

Cannes Premiere

DON JUAN by Serge Bozon
Produced by Philippe Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE Belgium)

ESTERNO NOTTE (Nightfall) by Marco Bellocchio
Produced by Simone Gattoni (ACE Italy)

Midnight Screenings

REBEL Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Co-produced by Diana Elbaum (ACE Belgium)

LA NUIT DU 12 by Dominik Moll
Produced by Carole Scotta (ACE France)

UN CERTAIN REGARD

CORSAGE by Marie Kreutzer
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE Germany), Janine Jackowski (ACE Germany), Bernard Michaux (ACE Luxembourg), Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE France)

GODLAND byHlynur Palmason
Produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE Denmark)

KURAK GÜNLER (Burning days) by Emin Alper
Produced by Nadir Operli (ACE Turkey)
Co-produced by Yorgos Tsourgiannis (ACE Greece) and Stienette Bosklopper (ACE the Netherlands)

SICK OF MYSELF by Kristoffer Borgli
Produced by Dyveke Graver (ACE Norway)

PLUS QUE JAMAIS by Emily Atef
Co-produced by Nicole Gerhards (ACE Germany)
Associate Producer Bernard Michaux (ACE Luxembourg)

MEDITERRANEAN FEVER by Maha Haj
Produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE Germany) and Janine Teerling (ACE Cyprus)

LE BLEU DU CAFTAN by Maryam Touzani
Co-produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE Denmark)

HARKA by Lotfy Nathan
Produced by Fabian Gasmia (ACE Germany)

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT 2022 SELECTION

ASHKAL by Youssef Chebbi
Produced by Farès Ladjimi (ACE France)

FALCON LAKE by Charlotte Le Bon
Produced by Sylvain Corbeil (ACE Canada)
Co-produced by Jean-Luc Ormieres (ACE France)

FOGO FATUO by João Pedro Rodrigues
Co-produced by Vincent Wang (ACE France)

L’ENVOL by Piero Marcello
Co-produced by Viola Fugen (ACE Germany)

LES ANNEES SUPER 8 by Annie Ernaux & David Ernaux-Briot
Produced by Philipp Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)

UN BEAU MATIN by Mia Hansen-Løve
Produced by Philipp Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)
Co-produced by Roman Paul (ACE Germany)

THE DAM by Ali Cherri
Co-produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE Germany)

UN VARON by Fabian Hernández
Produced by Claire Charles-Gervais (ACE France)

THE CANNES CRITICS’ WEEK 2022 SELECTION

In competition

THE WOODCUTTER’S STORY by Mikko Myllylaht
Produced by Jussi Rantamäki (ACE Finland)
Co-produced by Koji Nelissen (ACE The Netherlands)
Developed during the ACE 27 Annual Programme

Special Screenings

SONS OF RAMSES by Clément Cogitore
Produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE France)

Competition

AEIOU – A QUICK ALPHABET OF LOVE by Nicolette Krebitz
Produced by Janine Jackowski (ACE Germany) and Jonas Dornbach (ACE Germany)
Co-produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE France)

ALCARRÀS by Carla Simon
Produced by Giovanni Pompili (ACE Italy)

A PIECE OF SKY by Michael Koch
Produced by Christof Neracher (ACE Switzerland)
Co-produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE Germany)

THAT KIND OF SUMMER by Denis Cote
Produced by Sylvain Corbeil (ACE Canada)

LEONORA ADDIO by Paolo Taviani
Produced by Simone Bachini (ACE Italy)

RABIYE KURNAZ VS. GEORGE W. BUSH by Andreas Dresen
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE Germany) & co-produced by Tom Dercourt (ACE France)

Berlinale Special

NEST by Hlynur Palmason, short
Produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE Denmark)

Encounters

THE CITY AND THE CITY by Christos Passalis, Syllas Tzoumerkas
Produced by Maria Drandaki (ACE Greece)

Panorama

BEAUTIFUL BEINGS by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Co-produced by Pavel Strand (ACE Czech Republic)

UNA FEMMINA – THE CODE OF SILENCE by Francesco Costabile
Produced by Pierpaolo Verga (ACE Italy)

SWING RIDE by Chiara Bellosi
Produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina (ACE Italy)

Generation KPLUS

OINK by Masha Halberstad
Produced by Marleen Slot (ACE The Netherlands)
Co-produced by Dries Phlypo (ACE Belgium)

GIRL PICTURE by Alli Haapasalo
Produced by Leila Lyytikäinen (ACE Finland) and Elina Pohjola(ACE Finland)