Announced as the big comeback of veteran Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki, Cannes Jury Prize winner 2023 “Fallen Leaves” was one of the biggest Nordic successes worldwide between 2020-2023 with over one million admissions.
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So what inspired release campaigns were used by arthouse banners in territories as diverse as Taiwan, Norway and the Czech Republic to widen Kaurismäki’s core audience and make him a cool name on social media?
The topic was explored Aug. 22 at the Europa Distribution panel, Around the World in 80 Minutes: The Distribution and Promotion of Nordic Films Internationally, hosted by New Nordic Films in Haugesund, Norway.
One of the highlights of the three-day Nordic market, the Europa Distribution panel was moderated by seasoned industryite Petri Kemppinen, founder of Good Hand Production, a consultant at Finland’s post-production house Totalpost and co-head of Baltic Event’s TV Beats Forum.
First, outlining his domestic release strategy for Kaurismäki’s Helsinki-set love story, Albert Yao, head of acquisitions at Taiwan’s Swallow Wings, said he rarely pre-buys movies but felt compelled to start negotiating “Fallen Leaves” at Berlin 2023 with sales outfit The Match Factory, ahead of the pic’s official launch in the main competition in Cannes. “Already at the European Film Market in Berlin, the word of mouth on the movie was mad, and another buyer told me he had made a big offer with a bank loan!” said Yao, a regular Haugesund attendee.
The deal with The Match Factory was closed in April 2023, and the Taiwanese release was set for May 1, 2024, across 19 halls in six cities. Yao said he had hoped to ride on an Oscar nomination, but the pic missed out on the coveted Hollywood accolade.
Showcased between May 1 and Jun. 11, the Finnish pic ended up with 3,700 admissions in Taiwan, the best result for an Aki Kaurismäki in the territory, although numbers were slightly below expectations.
“Competition was tough at the time,” explained Yao, citing the top grossers on “Fallen Leaves”‘ opening week – the Japanese animated pic “Haikyu!! The Movie” (43,929 admissions) South Korean actioner “The Roundup: Punishment” (25,883) and Hollywood fare “The Fall Guy” (23,002). “European arthouse movies have a limited audience, with local auds who favor Hollywood, Japanese or local titles,” Yao said.
To woo cinephiles, women and 30+ audiences, Swallow Wings used a mix of traditional poster campaigns, press and social media PR to create awareness. They also hosted special screenings and tie-ins with travel agents promoting Finland as well as local book publishers. Key selling points from the movie were the romance, Chaplin the dog – used profusely for standees and various leaflets – and the music from indie pop duo Maustetytöt.
Asked whether other revenue streams were available to arthouse pics, Yao said, “Television is tough, even for Hollywood fare, and VOD is challenging for European titles. Every film is unique, and it’s hard to predict the final head count on an arthouse European title,” he underscored.
The Nor-way
Speaking on behalf of Arthaus, one of Norway’s long-standing arthouse operators, distribution manager Anne Marte Nygaard said her banner also rarely pre-buys. But as the distributor of Kaurismäki’s recent works, “it felt safe to buy unseen, and indeed it was,” she said.
The Norwegian release date was set for Dec. 25, 2023, as a counter-programming offer to the usual local Christmas family and WW2 blockbusters. To kick off the word of mouth in Norway on the heels of the glorious Cannes world premiere, the pic was showcased at five national festivals until its domestic opening, starting with a launch at the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund 2023. A string of pre-screening sessions were booked for November-December, and a Kaurismäki retrospective was held in December.
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The film was positioned as “A romantic comedy from Helsinki, a must-watch Kaurismäki,” easy to watch, like and program for exhibitors, thanks to its short running time (81 minutes). The primary audience was defined as the educated 40+ crowd, Kaurismäki fans, with 20+ viewers as secondary groups.
“We believed in the film’s cross-over potential, as youngsters are hungry for quality indie movies such as Wes Anderson titles,” said Nygaard, who also bet on the pic’s strong legs. Our audience is slow in reacting. Therefore, the film needed time to be established, and we felt it was more important to secure a few good screenings over time than going wide and short.”
Released against Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak” and the Norwegian WW2 drama “The Arctic Convoy”, the pic sold 18,080 tickets from 80 locations, scoring just under the other Cannes titles “Close” (27,013), “Aftersun” (21,982), “Perfect Days” (20,014), but ahead of “Decision to Leave” (7,2 09), “How to Have Sex” (5,542), “Four Daughters” (4,944) and “Afire” (2,775). Nygaard cited popular special-themed cinema outings in Norway, such as the “knitting cinema” on Tuesdays. This was perfect for the film,” she said.
As in Taiwan, the marketing and PR was built around a mix of paper and online media campaigns, posters and flyers using the same main artwork and special visuals for the cinematheque Kaurismäki showcase. “Our team loved working on the clips for social media as the dialogues are so good,” the distributor said.
Merchandising consisted of homemade match boxes to express the warm and loving romantic film, and cinema halls built cozy Nordic atmospheres. “It was quite easy,” Nygaard said. “Fallen Leaves”‘ main actress Alma Pöysti attended PR stunts backed by the Finnish Cultural Centre in Norway and reviews were excellent, providing a wide range of easy quotes for poster use.
Cool Czech
Meanwhile, the film’s launch in the Czech Republic was run by the biggest national arthouse player and sixth biggest distributor, Aerofilms, which also owns six cinemas and releases around 26 titles annually. Marketing manager Laura Čadek Plačková said the title was changed to “Karaoke Blues,” and the opening was set for Nov. 16, 2023, following a festival launch in Karlovy Vary to get the word of mouth going. A mix of arthouse-mainstream multiplexes was booked before the VOD launch on KVIFF.TV in February 2024.
The taglines “A fateful love story in the streets of Helsinki” and “Aki Kaurismäki in vintage form” were used to sell the film to the core audience of Kaurismäki fans, film buffs, lovers of Nordic pics, romance fans and Aerofilms regulars, as well as cross over younger groups.
Marketing relied on three pillars: romance, humor and the Aki Kaurismäki brand. Elements of the ‘rediscovering Kaurismäki’ campaign had three angles-the younger insight, aimed at reintroducing the master to the younger audience, an engagement strategy building on Kaurismäki’s aesthetics, and an overall retrospective dedicated to the Finnish helmer, booked a month ahead of the premiere and showcasing five of his classics.
The dog from the film and Kaurismäki’s deadpan humor were again key selling points, said Čadek Plačková, and to engage younger viewers, Aerofilms produced “short-form content for Instagram to make the movie look more dynamic” and developed partnerships with Czech radio stations and influencers.
Reviews, both from media and members of the audience, were used to gather catchy quotes. Creative promotional stunts included street posters for missing people, caught by influencers that boosted the online buzz.
The film ended up with 13,000 admissions from 427 screens, in line with the 10,000-15,000 anticipated results, said Čadek Plačková, with extra online viewers on the platform KVIFF.TV of 1,500. Meanwhile, the online campaign had a reach of 900,000 and video views of 200,000. “The key for us beyond the film itself was the branding of Aerofilms, whose goal is to bring quality movies to Czech audiences and build their film education. Our whole campaign was fully in line with our mission,” Čadek Plačková concluded.
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