Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone awarded in Austria
Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone awarded in Austria!
The feature film Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone, directed by Arto Halonen, has won the Children Jury Award at the Austrian Kinderfilm Steiermark -festival in Graz. The festival's competition films toured through screenings in the Austrian state of Styria in Kaptenberg, Liezen, Leibnitz and the state capital Graz, where the awards were presented.
Emil Paloniemi and Mikko Nousiainen. Credit: Dāvis Dambenieks.
Thirteen films were selected for the 16th children’s film festival in Steiermark. The festival says the following about the selection criteria: "The films have been selected very carefully and are unique and internationally awarded works from different parts of the world. These films are intended as a window to the world for the target audience aged 4-14."
The festival's jury included children and young filmmakers, and they explained the selection of the film Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone as the winner as follows: “Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone is an entertaining musical full of absurd humor that blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality, but at the same time sticks to its central theme: Julius has the ability find solutions to his problems even with the help of a super vampire.”
Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone has previously been selected for the competition series in many other important film festivals, such as the Schlingel Children's and Youth Film Festival, PÖFF's Just Film Festival in Tallinn, Molodist Film Festival in Kiev and the Vienna International Children's Film Festival.
The film is a story about the richness of imagination and the search for happiness. Julius, who is starting school, becomes friends with the degenerate vampire Arnold Cautious and together they try to make a lucky stone to solve the problems between Julius' parents. Imagination ultimately leads to happiness. Through the songs and the film's plot, the film deals with important and also painful themes, such as difference, the divorce process, happiness and a sense of self-worth.
The film was directed by Arto Halonen and written by Jukka Itkonen together with Halonen. The main actors are Mikko Nousiainen and Emil Paloniemi. Maria Ylipää, Mikko Töyssy, Tuija Ernamo, Ilkka Koivula and Luna Huotari are seen in other key roles. The film's music and songs are composed by Tuomas Kantelinen and the film's cinematographer is by Tuomo Virtanen. The editor is Armands Začs, the set designer is Teppo Järvinen, the sound designer is Kirka Sainio, the costume designer is Jaana Aro and the make-up artist is Maija Gundare.
The film was shot in Tampere and Latvia. The film is produced by Art Films production and the co-producer is Latvia's Tasse Film. The film's international sales company is Germany-based Media Luna: https://medialuna.biz/
