As the shadow of WW2 spreads over Central Europe, many Jews flee Hitler's tyranny, seeking sanctuary in distant lands. Some find themselves in Finland, hoping for a fresh start, but the tides of war pull Finland into an alliance with Nazi Germany. Abraham Stiller, a prominent member of the Jewish community in Helsinki and a philanthropist, stands tall. With a vibrant personality and an unwavering commitment to protecting the Jewish asylum seekers, he constantly reassures them: "This is Finland, not Germany." But when Jewish refugees are abruptly dispatched to labour camps near the German forces in Northern Finland, Stiller's resolve is put to the test.
Never Alone is produced by Ilkka Matila through MRP Matila Röhr Productions (Finland) and coproduced by Kristian Taska through Taska Film (Estonia), Peter Krupenin through HOBAB (Sweden), Loredana Rehekampff through Samsara Filmproduktion (Austria) and Josef Brandmaier through Penned Pictures (Germany).
“This is already the fifth coproduction feature film between Matila Röhr Productions and Taska Film. All of them, Names in Marble, 1944: Brother Against Brother, The Eternal Road and The Dissidents, have been period piece films telling significant untold stories of Northern and Eastern Europe. This is also very much the case with Never Alone, and we are in good hands with an internationally acclaimed director like Klaus Häro”, Estonian producer Kristian Taska told FNE.
The Finnish Film Foundation, MTV3, CMore, Konstsamfundet, the Church Media Fund, the Nordic Film Fund, the Swedish Film Institute, SVT, the Austrian Film Institute, ORF, the Estonian Film Institute, the Film Estonia cash rebate, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallink Grupp/Tallink Hotels and Barona are supporting the project.
"We received financial support from Finland (53%), Sweden (3%), Estonia (13%), Austria (21%) and Germany (10%). The total budget is 4,456,200 EUR", Taska added.
The filming is underway from 12 September till 2 November 2023.
The date of completion is August 2024. The international distributor is Playmaker Munich, and Nordisk Film in the Nordic countries.
Production Information:
Producer:
MRP Matila Röhr Productions (Finland)
Coproducers:
Taska Film (Estonia)
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HOBAB (Sweden)
Samsara Filmproduktion (Austria)
Penned Pictures (Germany)
Credits:
Director: Klaus Härö
Screenwriters: Klaus Härö, Jimmy Karlsson
DoP: Robert Nordström
Cast: Ville Virtanen, Nina Hukkinen, Rony Herman, Naemi Latzer, Kari Hietalahti, Hannu-Pekka Björkman
