Magnus Millang, Paprika Steen Join Juho Kuosmanen's 'Dream Come True' (original) (raw)

Juho Kuosmanen, the director of Cannes prizewinner “Compartment No. 6,” has completed casting on feature film “Dream Come True,” which is a bittersweet comedy inspired by a true story. His third feature film will star Magnus Millang (“Another Round”), Paprika Steen (“Families Likes Ours,” “Festen”) and newcomer Ellen Kihri.

First plot details have been unveiled for the film, which is scheduled to shoot later this year in Finland, Denmark and France.

“Dream Come True” is the story of 43-year-old Rasmus, a Danish commercial diver who clears blocked drains and welds seams deep underwater for a living. Fortune smiles on Rasmus when he discovers a shipwreck during one of his dives. In the wreckage, Rasmus discovers thousands of pristine bottles of champagne from the oldest drinkable vintage in the world – a treasure worth millions.

After living with his daughter under his mother’s roof for so long, this is his chance at a new life. But Rasmus will come to realize that some dreams are best left undiscovered.

Kuosmanen commented, “Diving and underwater adventures have been passions of mine since I was a child. Ever since I started making films, it has been my dream to find a story set in a marine environment and the silent world below the surface. This film was inspired by true events, but we have distanced the story from historical facts and added a tragicomic tone familiar from my previous movies.

“While writing, I started thinking about the brilliant Danish actor Magnus Millang as the main character Rasmus. We drove thousands of kilometres all around Denmark and decided to set the story largely in Jutland. Jutland’s harbors, fishing boats and rugged seascapes provide the perfect setting for an adventure film in which a diver from a small fishing village dreams of great achievements.”

Both of Kuosmanen’s previous features were recognized with major awards in Cannes and went on to robust international distribution.

“Compartment No. 6” won the Grand Prix in Cannes’ 2021 Competition, going on to be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in the U.S. and several other key international territories. The film was shortlisted for best international feature film at the 94th Academy Awards.

Kuosmanen won the Cannes Un Certain Regard Prize with his 2016 feature debut “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki,” which also scooped the Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Eye and a Gold Hugo in the Chicago Intl. Film Festival’s New Directors Competition, going on to be distributed by MUBI in the U.S. and U.K. “The Painting Sellers” (2010) won the first prize at the Cannes Cinéfondation.

“Dream Come True” is produced by Katrin Pors from Denmark’s Snowglobe (“Godland,” “The Worst Person in the World,” “Fjord”) and Jussi Rantamäki, Kuosmanen’s long-time production partner with Finland’s Aamu Film Company (“Compartment No. 6,” “Fjord”) in coproduction with Germany’s One Two Films (“Holy Spider,” “The Secret Agent”), the U.K.’s Portobello Productions (“Coward”) and Sweden’s Kjellson & Wik (“Gentle Monster,” “Force Majeure”).

The film is supported by the Danish Film institute, the Finnish Film Foundation, Vestdanske Film Pulje, Business Finland, Nordic Film and TV Fund, the German Federal Film Board, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, DR, Yle, SR, WDR, ARTE, SVT and Creative Europe Media.