Stellan Skarsgard, Andrea Riseborough and Gustaf Skarsgard have joined the cast of the film “What Remains”, which began filming in Turku and at the Paimio Sanatorium.
The psychological crime drama What Remains, directed by Chinese director Ran Huang, is currently being filmed in the Turku region. Paimio Sanatorium is the main filming location for the film and one of the reasons why the film production came to Finland. The film stars actors Stellan Skarsgard (“Dune,” “Chernobyl”), Andrea Riseborough (“Birdman,” “ZeroZeroZero”) and Gustaf Skarsgard (“Vikings,” “Westworld”).
‘What Remains’ is the feature directorial debut of Huang Ran, a Chinese artist-turned-filmmaker. His previous “The Administration of Glory” debuted in the short film category at Cannes in 2014. The script of “What Remains” was jointly written by Huang and Megan Everett Skarsgard. In addition to the stellar cast, the film has attracted a world-class production crew. This includes cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt (“Emman, “First Cow”) and production designer Mikael Varhelyi (“The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, “The 12th Man”).
Director Huang is impressed by the professionalism and efficiency of the Finnish team.
– In China, a film like this would have about 300 team members. Although our team is smaller than usual in a Chinese production, the professionalism and efficiency of the Finnish team guarantee that we’ll succeed.
“What Remains” is being produced by Film Service Finland and Huang through his production company Fake Action Truth, with financing from iQIYI, a leading video streaming platform in China, and CAA Media Finance, which owns the North American distribution rights. The film has additional financial support from Business Finland and Art Algorithm Capital, an Asia-based media and art investment fund.
Film Service Finland is one of Finland’s largest producers of production services, and was working on, for example, the US film “Dual” last year.
– What has been especially great about “What Remains” is that we have also become co-producers of the film. We are working to increase the number of international productions in Finland, commented Jupe Louhelainen, producer of Film Service Finland.
The director’s interest in architecture made the production turn its attention to the Paimio Sanatorium, designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto. In search for filming locations, the production contacted the Western Finland Film Commission, and after the first visit to Paimio, it was clear that the production wanted to shoot the film in the Turku region.
– We are pleased that the “What Remains” crew chose the Turku area, and especially the Paimio Sanatorium. Despite the COVID-19 situation, Turku has been the location for several international and domestic film productions this year, Film Commissioner Teija Raninen delights.
– Finland’s recognition as a filming and production country has increased since the introduction of the audio-visual production incentive in 2017. The number of productions filmed in Finland is growing. Of course, we hope that What Remains’ well-executed shoot will further increase awareness of Finland and the Turku region as a diverse filming and production location in Asia as well.
The Western Finland Film Commission is part of the Experience Industry cluster at Turku Science Park Ltd. Turku Science Park Ltd is a non-profit joint development company for the Turku region, which works closely with all business actors on the regional, national and international levels.