MIKKO MYLLYLAHTI

My name is Mikko Myllylahti, I am a poet and filmmaker from Finland. I was born and raised in Northern Finland, in a small border town called Tornio. At the moment I live and work as a free artist in Karkkila countryside, one hour from Helsinki.

 

I am a graduate from ELO Film School Helsinki (MFA) and my short films have shown in several major festivals and in Finnish television, including The Tiger (premiere in Cannes Critics' Week 2018), The Handbag (Best Nordic Short Film Nominee 2013), Love in Vain (Locarno FF 2009) and The Pyramid (Student Prize in Tampere 2012). I am the screenwriter of The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, a feature film that premiered in Cannes Film Festival 2016 and won the Prix Un Certain Regard, as well as EFA Discovery Prize and 8 Jussi Awards, including Best Picture, and is sold to more than 30 countries. At the moment I am working on my first feature film as a director, The Woodcutter Story (participant in Berlinale Talents Script Station 2015, Jerusalem Film Lab 2016 and Torino Film Lab FeatureLab 2018).

 

My debut poetry collection Autojen kuumat moottorit kotiinpaluun jälkeen (“The Heated Engines of Cars After Homecoming”) was published in 2003 and since then I have written several published collections with critical acclaim and awards, e.g. I won the prestigious Kalevi Jäntti Literature Prize of 16.000 euros for my third collection Väylä (2012). My fourth collection Bensiiniä ja lunta ("Gasoline and Snow") was published in February 2015 and I am currently writing my next collection, working title Arkologian unet ("The Dreams of Arcology").

 

I am a Torino Film Lab Script&Pitch (2014) and EAVE (2013) alumnus and a member of the Union of Finnish Writers and also a board member of the Association of Finnish Film Directors.