Cannes awards, summer music and environmentally friendly dry toilets

Transilvania International Film Festival has put the Nordics in its focus. In collaboration with Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway’s film institutes, the festival will showcase a wide selection of films from the region, including six Finnish ones. Among them is Tia Kouvo’s debut feature, Family Time, which has been selected for the festival’s international competition. 

“Being The 69 Eyes has taken us places we’ve never imagined,” says Jyrki69, the band’s lead singer. DreadCentral talked with the singer about the band’s new album, horror influences and “how to keep fandoms alive while still evolving”.

Aki Kaurismäki has a reason to celebrate. The director’s latest film, the tragicomedy Fallen Leaves, was awarded the Jury Prize at the renowned Cannes Film Festival, writes Yle. What’s more, according to Reuters, the film’s canine star Alma took home the Palm Dog Jury Prize.

Congratulations to Red Stage Entertainment! Its game Skábma - Snowfall was named the Nordic Game of the Year at the Nordic Game Awards. The 3D adventure is inspired by the old beliefs and folktales of the indigenous Sámi people.

Everyone has heard about Nokia phones, but how many know the story behind them? The drama series Mobile 101 lifts the veil on the rise of Nokia as a mobile phone company and does it in a “beautifully shot and superbly written” way, writes Entertainment Focus in its review.

Sanitation is a huge global issue, and the City of Helsinki offers one solution. Its environmentally friendly dry toilet, Helsinki Huussi, is showcased as part of the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. “Waste accumulated in the waterless Helsinki Huussi toilet is not flushed away as usual but is instead taken to be composted,” writes E-Architect.

A new Hanoi Rocks release, The Days We Spent Underground 1981–1984, celebrates the band’s first five albums. LouderSound enjoyed the repackaged offering, describing it as “irresistible” in a review titled “No bells, no whistles, but what a beautiful noise”.

Summer Love, a new single from Finnish band Lala Salama, is here to get you into a holiday mood. According to Clash, the track is “an ode to carefree feeling, a flirtation piece of pop-edged infatuation that bursts out of the traps and then accelerates to the finish line”.

A new Alan Wake 2 trailer reveals the game’s release date and a new protagonist. The much-anticipated title will hit the virtual shelves on 17 October and see Alan Wake return to Bright Falls. Polygon has a breakdown of what we know about the game so far.

Love Moomins and collectibles? DeAgostini has launched a product for you. Its Moominhouse subscription build will arrive in instalments and stand nearly 70 centimetres tall upon completion. Unfortunately, the subscription set is only available in the US for now.