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Finntastic! Games People Play + The Date

Finntastic! Games People Play + The Date

Finntastic! Games People Play + The Date

Dir. Jenni Toivoniemi
126 min

Finntastic! New Films from Finland | September 8-10

The Finntastic! film series showcases the exciting vision and new work by prize-winning female directors from Finland. Finntastic! is curated by MSPIFF programmer Alissa Simon in collaboration with the Finnish Film Foundation.

Friday, September 8 at 7:00 PM | Presenting two comedies by writer/director Jenni Toivoniemi: Games People Play, preceded by her short film The Date.

About the Films

Games People Play (Seurapeli)
Finland | Written & Directed by Jenni Toivoniemi | 2020 | 119 min | Finnish, Swedish, English | Fiction, Comedy

Eight friends gather to celebrate Mitzi's (Emmi Parviainen) surprise 40th birthday party over a nostalgic weekend at an idyllic seaside villa, just like they used to do as teenagers. The party gets off on the wrong foot immediately, as the birthday girl is none too pleased with the surprise. But tensions cool when Mitzi's best friend Veronika (Laura Birn) arrives with her new boyfriend Mikael (Christian Hillborg, Fleabag, The Last Kingdom), a Swedish Hollywood star. Old habits rear their ugly heads as familiar surroundings and old party games upset the group dynamic, making them reassess the past as well as the present. Writer-director Jenni Toivoniemi crafts a bittersweet comedy about the tragedy of being forever young. (Note adapted from LevelK.)

The Date (Treffit)
Finland | Written & Directed by Jenni Toivoniemi | 2012 | 7 min | Finnish | Fiction, Comedy

Teenage Tino's manhood is put to test when he has to host a date for Diablo, the family’s cat.

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Film Details

Program: Finntastic! New Films From Finland
Release Year: 2020
Runtime: 126 min
Country/Region: Finland
Language: Finnish, Swedish, English
Tags: Comedy, Drama, Dramedy, Relationships, Women Directors

Cast/Crew

Director: Jenni Toivoniemi
Screenwriter: Jenni Toivoniemi