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Pirjo Honkasalo is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer, Assistant Director, Still Photographer, Editor, Other and Other Finlandaise born on 22 february 1947 at Helsinki (Finlande)

Pirjo Honkasalo

Pirjo Honkasalo
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Birth name Pirjo Irene Honkasalo
Nationality Finlande
Birth 22 february 1947 (77 years) at Helsinki (Finlande)

Pirjo Irene Honkasalo (born 22 February 1947) is a Finnish film director who has also worked as a cinematographer, film editor, producer, screenwriter and actress. In 1980 she co-directed Flame Top with Pekka Lehto, whit whom she worked earlier and later as well. The film was chosen for the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the 1990s she focused on feature documentaries such as "The Trilogy of the Sacred and the Satanic" (Mysterion, Tanjuska and the 7 Devils and Atman). Honkasalo returned to fiction with Fire-Eater (1998) and Concrete Night (2013), both of which were written by Pirkko Saisio. Concrete Night won six Jussi Awards in 2014, among them the Jussi for the Best Direction and the Jussi for the Best Film. Its world premiere was at the Toronto International Film Festival in Masters series.

Pirjo Honkasalo worked as provincial artist laureate in Central Finland 1974–1975. At that time she drove around the area with one-armed scholar who made research of traditional handcrafts. Honkasalo photographed all the interviewees voluntarily. On that journey she met the main characters of her documentary Their Age. She is the first honorary member of Women in Film & Television Finland ry. The organisation says that "Honkasalo has [...] made touching films of universal topics" and also spoken out about the gender inequality in film industry.

Pirjo Honkasalo and her partner Pirkko Saisio live in Kruununhaka, Helsinki, but they also have apartments in Tavastia, Turku and Madeira. Both of them enjoy travelling and they together have written a travel book Exit (1987). They've raised Saisio's daughter, actress Elsa Saisio, and are one of the best-known lesbian couples in Finland.

Biography

Son conjoint est l'écrivain, actrice et réalisatrice Pirkko Saisio.

Usually with

Pirkko Saisio
Pirkko Saisio
(3 films)
Rauni Mollberg
Rauni Mollberg
(1 films)
Rea Mauranen
Rea Mauranen
(3 films)
Pekka Lehto
Pekka Lehto
(1 films)
Jörn Donner
Jörn Donner
(1 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Pirjo Honkasalo (11 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

Numbskull Emptybrook
Numbskull Emptybrook (1973)
, 1h27
Directed by Ere Kokkonen
Genres Comedy
Actors Vesa-Matti Loiri, Marjatta Raita, Spede Pasanen, Simo Salminen, Juhani Kumpulainen, Rauni Ikäheimo
Roles Nainen raitiovaunussa (uncredited)
Rating59% 2.9506152.9506152.9506152.9506152.950615

Director

Concrete Night
Concrete Night (2013)
, 1h33
Directed by Pirjo Honkasalo
Genres Drama
Actors Teijo Eloranta, Rea Mauranen
Rating63% 3.1945853.1945853.1945853.1945853.194585
Concrete Night tells about a 14-year-old boy named Simo (Johannes Brotherus) who still lacks his own sense of self and the ability to protect himself from his surroundings. Simo and his big brother Ilkka are the sons of a helpless and unpredictable single mother. Their chaotic home is located deep in the heart of a concrete jungle in Helsinki. Ilkka has one day of freedom left before starting his prison sentence. The mother persuades Simo to spend the last night with his brother. Events heighten throughout the one day and night in Helsinki and the brothers witness incidents they would rather not see. Simo, who has no ability to distort what he sees or delude himself, sees things accurately as they are. When unfiltered, the world seems unbearable. Finally a casual encounter with a photographer, whose intentions Simo misreads, launches him into blind fear, which explodes in panic stricken violence. In this violence Simo finds his lacking identity, his true face.
Fire-Eater
Fire-Eater (1998)
, 1h40
Directed by Pirjo Honkasalo
Genres Drama
Themes Circus films
Actors Elena Leeve, Per Ragnar
Rating65% 3.278923.278923.278923.278923.27892

Scriptwriter

Concrete Night
Concrete Night (2013)
, 1h33
Directed by Pirjo Honkasalo
Genres Drama
Actors Teijo Eloranta, Rea Mauranen
Rating63% 3.1945853.1945853.1945853.1945853.194585
Concrete Night tells about a 14-year-old boy named Simo (Johannes Brotherus) who still lacks his own sense of self and the ability to protect himself from his surroundings. Simo and his big brother Ilkka are the sons of a helpless and unpredictable single mother. Their chaotic home is located deep in the heart of a concrete jungle in Helsinki. Ilkka has one day of freedom left before starting his prison sentence. The mother persuades Simo to spend the last night with his brother. Events heighten throughout the one day and night in Helsinki and the brothers witness incidents they would rather not see. Simo, who has no ability to distort what he sees or delude himself, sees things accurately as they are. When unfiltered, the world seems unbearable. Finally a casual encounter with a photographer, whose intentions Simo misreads, launches him into blind fear, which explodes in panic stricken violence. In this violence Simo finds his lacking identity, his true face.