Lovers & Leavers (Finnish: Kuutamolla) is a 2002 Finnish romantic drama film directed by Aku Louhimies and co-written by Louhimies and Katja Kallio, based on the novel of the same name by Kallio.
Contents
Synopsis
Lovers & Leavers is about Iiris, a 30-year-old bookstore assistant, who meets the man of her dreams.
Production
Kuutamolla (English name: Lovers & Leavers) is a romantic drama film directed and co-written by Finnish screenwriter and director Aku Louhimies. It was co-written by Katja Kallio and Louhimies, based on Kallio's novel Kuutamolla: Levoton tarina rakastamisesta.
Heikki Färm was cinematographer on the film, while Leri Leskinen composed the score. Samu Heikkilä was responsible for editing the film.
The film was produced by Jarkko Hentula, Ilkka Y. L. Matila, and Marko Röhr, through Matila Röhr Productions.
Cast
Minna Haapkylä as Iiris Vaara
Anna-Leena Härkönen as Anna
Laura Malmivaara as Laura
Peter Franzén as Marko
Matti Ristinen as Sami
Mikko Kouki as Jukka
Pirkko Saisio as Leila Vaara
Santeri Nuutinen as Santtu
Rasmus Nuutinen as Tintti
Veeti Kallio as Mikko
Linda Zilliacus as Ilona
Release
Lovers & Leavers was premiered in Finnish cinemas on 1 February 2002. It also screened at many international film festivals between 2002 and 2004, including in competition at the 2002 Shanghai International Film Festival in China, the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival in the US, and the Taormina Film Festival in Italy.
The film has also been broadcast on Finnish TV channel MTV3 many times, and more recently (2021) on Nelonen.
Awards
Minna Haapkylä won the Silver Dolphin Award for Best Actress at the 2002 Festroia International Film Festival for her role in Kuutamolla.
Other awards, awarded in 2003, include:
Winner, Best Feature, Cinequest San Jose Film Festival
Winner, Jury Award in category Best Narrative Feature - Drama , Durango Film Festival
Nominated, Jussi Awards:
Best Actress (Paras naispääosa)
Best Editing (Paras leikkaus)
Best Film (Vuoden elokuva)
Best Set Design (Paras lavastus)
Best Supporting Actress (Paras naissivuosa)
Winner, "Europe Now" prize, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival