The Finnish film After Us The Flood has received the main award, the Silver Méliès Prize, in the Méliès competition series at the Trieste Science+Fiction film festival. Director Arto Halonen was there to receive the award.
After Us, The Flood, a dramatic feature film directed by Arto Halonen and written by Ossi Hakala, travels through time to explore relationships, greed and the reasons why humans haven’t yet been able to stop climate change. The film’s main actors are Linnea Leino, Elias Westerberg and Tuomas Nilsson.
The festival’s jury gave the following reasons for their choice: “We loved the film’s original and inventive approach, as well as its humanity, which made us reflect on important universal issues. We particularly appreciated the richness of the storytelling, the development of the characters and the emotional impact that the viewer receives, which makes you think about the story long after you have finished watching it. Overall, the film was exceptionally satisfying, enjoyable and thought-provoking at the same time.” The jury consisted of Jeremy Dyson, Luna Gualano and Cristian Solimeno.
The Trieste Science+Fiction Festival is a platform for experimental languages and new technologies in film, television and visual arts. It aims to explore the world of science fiction, from films to comics. The festival takes place in Trieste, Italy.
MÉLIÈS SERIES OF COMPETITIONS
The Méliès Awards are presented by the Méliès International Festival Federation (MIFF), which brings together 30 film festivals from 21 countries. The Silver Méliès Prize for feature fiction is awarded at eight of the most important European science fiction film festivals, including Trieste. The winners of these eight film festivals will compete against each other for the Golden Méliès Prize in October 2025 at the Sitges Fantasy Festival in Spain. After Us, The Flood will therefore be nominated for the Best European Fantasy Film in October 2025.
The Méliès Prize is awarded for quality, creativity and imagination. The prize is named after Georges Méliès, the French pioneer of fantasy films and special effects. The prize was created in 1995.
Other roles: Petteri Summanen, Antti Reini, Kasperi Kola, Pihla Penttinen, Jari Salmi, Tobias Zilliacus, Jemina Sillanpää, Robert Enckell, Hannu-Pekka Björkman and Paavo Westerberg.
SYNOPSIS
How would you live your life if you got a second chance? The brilliant young physicist Henrik and his fellow students develop a fusion reactor that produces endless clean energy, potentially saving Earth from environmental catastrophe. The reactor, however, is harnessed for commercial use, and the consequences for the planet and society are devastating. By the year 2064, the world is ravaged by climate change. The UN manages to develop a form of time travel that allows a person’s memories and personality to be sent back to the moment of their birth. Henrik is sent back to the past with the goal of preventing the catastrophe from escalating before it’s too late. Something goes wrong, though, and Henrik is forced to begin his mission from a very different starting point than he’s used to. Thus begins a race against time—and against himself.
How would you live your life if you got a second chance? The brilliant young physicist Henrik and his fellow students develop a fusion reactor that produces endless clean energy, potentially saving Earth from environmental catastrophe. The reactor, however, is harnessed for commercial use, and the consequences for the planet and society are devastating. By the year 2064, the world is ravaged by climate change. The UN manages to develop a form of time travel that allows a person’s memories and personality to be sent back to the moment of their birth. Henrik is sent back to the past with the goal of preventing the catastrophe from escalating before it’s too late. Something goes wrong, though, and Henrik is forced to begin his mission from a very different starting point than he’s used to. Thus begins a race against time—and against himself.
The film After Us, The Flood is produced by Arto Halonen for Art Films Production and co-produced by Tasse Film from Latvia. The film is funded by the Finnish Film Foundation, YLE, the Nordisk Film & TV Fund, the City of Tampere and Film Tampere, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and Riga Film Fund. The film is distributed internationally by REinvent International Sales.
The movie’s premiere in Finland will be on 5 December 2024.