\n<\/p>\n
\n\tPsychological suspense drama \u201cLex Julia\u201d has unveiled its international cast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe film stars Sweden\u2019s Christian Hillborg (\u201cThe Last Kingdom,\u201d \u201cFleabag,\u201d \u201cYoung Royals\u201d) and Finland\u2019s Jessica Grabowsky\u00a0(\u201cTom of Finland,\u201d \u201cWhere Once We Walked,\u201d \u201cIcebreaker\u201d). Estonian actor Rea Lest, known for \u201cThe Manslayer\/The Virgin\/The Shadow\u201d and Rainer Sarnet\u2019s \u201cNovember,\u201d takes on the titular role of Julia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tLaura Hypp\u00f6nen\u2019s film sees a perfect island holiday spiraling out of control when Julia, a music producer in her early 30s, travels to her new friend Anna\u2019s isolated villa. When Anna introduces her husband JP, Julia instantly recognizes him from her past.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a story of a rape survivor meeting her date rapist years after their previous encounter. It explores the dilemmas and differing perceptions of both the victim and the alleged perpetrator, also including the view of the third party \u2013 the wife of the alleged rapist,\u201d explained Hypp\u00f6nen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tInspired by personal experience \u201cwhich took years to distill into a character-driven fiction film,\u201d the Finnish director wanted to \u201cdig deep into the subject of acquaintance rape without moralizing or sensationalizing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tHypp\u00f6nen\u2019s second feature \u2013 following \u201cLive East Die Young,\u201d set in London\u2019s East End\u2019s party scene \u2013 was partly shot on a remote private island in the Nordic archipelago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe film is written as a slow-burning, character-driven suspense drama. The setting adds tension to the story,\u201d she noted, commenting on the \u201craw, primitive quality\u201d of the footage obtained this way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMuch of my filmography has been created in a very DIY setting. This sense of restriction is quite apparent in \u2018Lex Julia,\u2019 where I chose a single location and only three actors. I love the claustrophobia this kind of limitation creates.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHypp\u00f6nen opened up about her leads.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFor Julia, I wanted to find an actor that could convey strength and vulnerability while also bringing dark humor and unpredictability to the role. For Anna, I looked for someone who could play with lightness and sophistication, but also show a darker undercurrent beneath the surface.\u201d For JP, it was all about \u201cwarmth and charm that can flip into coldness and cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe was also \u201clooking for an ensemble\u201d: \u201cA trio that would play together, supporting and challenging each other and be willing to explore the darker aspects of the material. I feel very lucky this is exactly what I found in Rea, Jessica and Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tProduced by Merja Ritola and Essi Haukkamaa-Judge for Finland\u2019s Greenlit Productions \u2013 also at work on \u201cNorthern Lights,\u201d recently spotlighted at the Finnish Film Affair \u2013 \u201cLex Julia\u201d is co-produced by Magdalena Zimecka and Marta Krzeptowska for Studio Produkcyjne Orka (Poland), Marianne Ostrat for Alexandra Film (Estonia) and Daniel L\u00e4gersten for G\u00f6taFilm in collaboration with Gila Bergqvist Ulfung for Breidablick (Sweden).<\/p>\n
\n\tFrom the very beginning, Hypp\u00f6nen saw it as a \u201cNordic film for an international audience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI started writing when I was still living in London, but I always imagined it set in the stark and primal Nordic landscape, with its specific light and a social setting that prides itself on gender equality. I wanted to question how deep this Nordic brand of equality actually goes,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI love films that use genre elements to engage an audience, but do so intelligently enough to explore something real \u2013 and shine some light onto the blind spots we all have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFilm is a very powerful medium and I try to use it to move people. In the case of \u2018Lex Julia,\u2019 my goal is to both seduce and to disturb the audience out of their comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile faced with cultural cuts in Finland, Hypp\u00f6nen isn\u2019t losing her faith just yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cSmaller and more experimental films have always been risky endeavors and these tend to be the first ones to be cut when the going gets tough. At the same time, it would seem like a good business idea to continue supporting projects with a riskier profile to ensure diversity and innovation in storytelling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI believe humans have a deep, innate need to share their stories and experiences, no matter what. If public funding doesn\u2019t support more experimental voices, these voices may be buried underground for a while, only to emerge stronger and more confrontational,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOur prospects may be bleak, but I like to think restrictions and collective rage can create a momentum for change. And change is what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Psychological suspense drama \u201cLex Julia\u201d has unveiled its international cast.\u00a0 The film stars Sweden\u2019s Christian Hillborg (\u201cThe Last Kingdom,\u201d \u201cFleabag,\u201d \u201cYoung Royals\u201d) and Finland\u2019s Jessica Grabowsky\u00a0(\u201cTom of Finland,\u201d \u201cWhere Once We Walked,\u201d \u201cIcebreaker\u201d). Estonian actor Rea Lest, known for \u201cThe Manslayer\/The Virgin\/The Shadow\u201d and Rainer Sarnet\u2019s \u201cNovember,\u201d takes on the titular role of Julia.\u00a0 Laura<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[7521,14747,14746,2115,6507,14749,14748,622],"class_list":{"0":"post-24236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-christian","9":"tag-grabowsky","10":"tag-hillborg","11":"tag-jessica","12":"tag-julia","13":"tag-lex","14":"tag-rea","15":"tag-star"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}