Fashion, winning films and a phone-free island

Congratulations are in order to Finnish film-makers. Heta Jäälinoja’s short film Nun or Never! has received the France TV prize and the audience award at the international animation film event Annecy Festival. A few days later, Tia Kouvo’s debut film, Family Time, won the Special Jury Prize at Transilvania International Film Festival. Read more about the awards on the Finnish Film Foundation website. 
 

“Modern fashion can and should encourage more complicated discussions. I think that’s something that’s often forgotten in this post-modernist era,” Ervin Latimer, the force behind the fashion brand Latimmier, told Hero magazine. The magazine spoke with Latimer about his education, ballroom culture and deconstructing gendered garments.  

Looking to get off the grid this summer? Finnish island Ulko-Tammio has declared itself a phone-free destination. However, this is more a recommendation than a rule: “We encourage visitors to put their phones away voluntarily and to focus their senses on nature rather than on their phones,” Joel Heino from Parks & Wildlife Finland told Treehugger. 

Mxdwn.com gives a glowing review of Circus of Rock’s second album, Lost Behind the Mask. “The entire album is perfectly executed, one impeccable track after the next,” the website writes. What makes Circus of Rock particularly interesting is that it isn’t a band but a massive heavy metal project masterminded by Finnish drummer Mirka Rantanen. 

Marimekko heads to Singapore. The fashion house plans to open a concept shop with a cafe, as well as an online store in the country by the end of September. The launch marks Marimekko’s entry into its seventh international market on the continent, writes Inside Retail. 

The award news continue. Juho Suonpää’s documentary Lynx Man was named the best international documentary at CinemAmbiente Festival in Italy. “The film presents in a symbolic intimist style an image of the relationship with nature present in European culture and society that is able to coexist with a world undergoing great transformation, traversed by conflicts and upheavals produced by the ongoing energy and climate crisis,” said the jury statement about the film.  

If you haven’t chosen your summer reading yet, take a look at Tove Jansson’s Summer Book. The book was recently chosen among Literary Hub’s 50 Greatest Summer Novels of All Time. “Jansson’s beloved novel is a series of gently funny, beautifully written vignettes about the life of a little girl and her grandmother on a small Finnish island,” LitHub writes. 

Now it has been confirmed: Cities Skyline II is coming out in October. According to Engadget, the original game, developed by Colossal Order, has sold more than 12 million copies since its release eight years ago. Check the pre-order trailer on the company’s website. 

Finnish melodic death metal band Superdeathflames has released a new single, Circle of the Weak. “Heavy riffs, powerful drums and keyboards” are in the DNA of the band, says BraveWords, which describes the release as “the new beginning of SDF journey that will really catch your ear”. 

Sofia Ilmonen, the Hyères-awarded fashion designer, has presented a new collection using the Spinnova fibre. “This collection demonstrates how a circular, wood-based fibre can be woven into something delicate and elegant,” Ilmonen said. The mini-collection consists of modular clothes which can be used to create three different silhouettes.