J-P Valkeapää
Directing
Biography
Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää is a Finnish director and screenwriter. His first film The Visitor (2009), that was also his final assigment in Aalto University School of Arts, was screened at Venice Film Festival in 2008. His second film They Have Escaped (2014) was screened at Venice and Toronto, and also won 4 Jussi-awards (Finland's premier film industry award), including Award for Best Directing. He has been selected for Director of the Year award in 2009 and 2015 by the Finnish Film Directors' Guild.
Known For
A grieving heart surgeon struggling with the loss of his wife drifts through an emotionally detached life while raising his teenage daughter. His chance encounter with a dominatrix awakens feelings he thought were gone, drawing him into a dark and unconventional world where pain and desire intertwine.
Dogs Don't Wear Pants
A young boy lives with his mother on a farm surrounded by deep forest in the remote wilds of the Finnish countryside. From time to time, the boy visits his father - a man of great violence - in prison. Locked in the stable is an unruly horse, the boy´s only other companion. Their simple life is disrupted when a stranger appears, with a note from the father and a bullet in his side. Reluctantly, mother and son offer the stranger refuge.
The Visitor
Marjaleena, a 60-year-old drunk ex-beauty pageant, runs a low end bar in Spain’s Costa del Sol. She discovers that her criminal husband Worm is about to get out of jail and is planning a dream life with his new cell-mate lover. Together with an uncanny crew Marjaleena sets off to get her share of her husbands millions.
Hit Big
Two troubled youths break out of their halfway house and make their way to one's home.
They Have Escaped
A short film of the last day of summer that never ends.