03/10/2023 - Ville Virtanen plays an elderly Jewish man who tries to prevent the Finnish government from handing over Jewish refugees to the Gestapo

Golden Globe-nominated director Klaus Härö (The Fencer [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ivo Felt
film profile]) is now filming his new project, penned with long-time collaborator Jimmy Karlsson (Mother of Mine [+see also:
trailer
film profile], My Sailor, My Love [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). Based on true events and Rony Smolar’s biography Uncle Stiller, the picture is predominantly set on the eve of World War II, when Finland began taking in refugees from Germany and Austria. In detail, the story centres on unsung hero Abraham Stiller, an elderly Jewish man who tries to prevent the Finnish government from handing over Jewish refugees to the Gestapo and to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The news was first reported by Variety.

Producer Ilkka Matila reported that the movie has been in the works for almost 15 years. The confirmed cast members include Finnish thesps Ville Virtanen (the series Bordertown) in the leading role, Nina Hukkinen (playing his wife), Hannu-Pekka Björkman (starring as Prime Minister Väinö Tanner), Carl-Kristian Rundman (starring as the Minister of the Interior), Kari Hietalahti (starring as Arno Anthoni) and Satu Tuuli Karhu (who portrays a journalist), along with Estonia’s Rain Tolk and Ruben Tolk as well as Austria’s Rony Herman and Naemi Latzer.

The project, budgeted at €4.6 million, is being filmed in Estonia and Finland. The feature will be premiered in autumn 2024 by Nordisk Film.

Never Alone is being produced by MRP Matila Röhr Productions in co-production with Estonia’s Taska Film, Sweden’s HOBAB, Austria’s Samsara Filmproduktion and Germany’s Penned Pictures. It has also received backing from the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Finnish Film Foundation, MTV3, CMore, Konstsamfundet, the Church Media Foundation, the Swedish Film Institute, SVT, the Austrian Film Institute, ORF, the Estonian Film Institute and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Munich-based outfit The Playmaker is selling the picture worldwide.