Girl Picture wins best film, Darude releases new music and opera goes VR

Blind Channel are busy touring Europe, but the band had time to talk with Impact Nottingham about their new single Flatline, the Eurovision experience and, of course, the tour. The interview also addressed rumours about the band’s fifth album. 

The Palace has reason to celebrate, again. The Helsinki-based restaurant was voted the best in Finland for the fourth time in a row. Around 400 food industry experts participated in the vote, Yle reports. 

Lynx Man and Blush - An Extraordinary Voyage have been selected for North America’s biggest documentary festival, Hot Docs, in Toronto. The former will be screened in the World Showcase section and the latter in the Nightvision category. In addition, according to the Finnish Film Foundation, two other Finnish short films, Goodbye Words and House of the Wickedest Man in the World, will be shown at the festival.

Darude is back. The electronic music producer, best known for the hit Sandstorm, has released his first original song in four years. The track, Outlaws, is also the first release from Darude’s new record label, Vibing Out, EDM.com writes.

Opera and virtual reality (VR) do not necessarily sound like a natural pair, but it hasn’t stopped the Finnish National Opera and National Ballet from using the technology. Its technicians tapped into technology from Finnish companies Varjo and ZOAN, as well as its in-house visualisation tool, to create the set for Pucchini’s opera Turandot entirely in VR. Read more on Mixed.   

Girl Picture has been crowned the Film of The Year at Jussi Awards, the Finnish “Oscars”. The film, which also took home three other awards during the evening, focuses on three teenage girls on the verge of adulthood, navigating relationships and love. 

The fourth album from melodic death doom veterans Mariana’s Rest, Auer, came out in March. Now the band has revealed the music video for its latest single, Light Reveals Our Wounds. Sonic Perspectives says the album delivers “brutal riffs, mesmerising auditory colours and immersive sounds”. 

A new Finnish crime series, Deception, will premiere in 2024. Swedish streamer C More has joined its production with Finland’s MTV and Fire Monkey. The series follows “a kid from the rough side of town“ who infiltrates the rich young elite, intending to rob them, writes C21Media. 

In February, Finnish game developer Tower Pop announced a 2.1-million-US dollar investment into its upcoming game Omega Royale. Now the company has revealed more details about the tower defence game and its thoughts on the genre in general to GameDaily. 

Marimekko has revealed a collaboration with Barcelona-based Sabine Finkenauer as part of its Artist Series. The Finnish fashion house has worked with the German artist to create a graphic tableware and textiles collection. “Her works embody a timeless and perfectly imperfect essence that our prints are known for,” Marimekko’s creative director Rebekka Day told Wallpaper.

Mother’s Milk Beverages has created a new Finnish liqueur innovation, Lingoncello. Inspired by the famous digestif Limoncello, the drink is made from hand-picked Arctic lingonberries. The idea was born in sauna and took years to develop into a final product, its creators told Bevnet.