The Guardian Angel selected to Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Guardian Angel written and directed by Arto Halonen, will be screening at the 34th Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), one of the leading film festivals in the United States.
Amongst the seven chosen feature films to compete in the festival category of The Best Nordic Feature are also Land of Hope (Finland), A Moon of My Own (Sweden), In Love and War (Denmark), Let Me Fall (Iceland), Phoenix (Norway) and The Bird Catcher (Norway). The Guardian Angel premiered internationally at the esteemed Warsaw Film Festival in 2018 and the films distribution rights have been sold to 60+ countries including France, Russia, Japan, Poland and India.
Santa Barbara International Film Festival is an eleven day event held at the seaside city of Santa Barbara, California. It is the last major film festival before the Academy Awards and traditionally there are multiple Oscar nominees in the festival’s program. SBIFF grants filmmakers also honorary awards; this year’s winners include e.g. Glenn Close (Maltin Modern Master Award), Viggo Mortensen (American Riviera Award) and Melissa McCarthy (Montecito Award).
The Guardian Angel is a psychological thriller based on true events taking place in 1950’s Denmark. The most incredible hypnosis crimes in history send an investigator and a hypnotist trough a world of psychological manipulation. The film features international stars Pilou Asbæk (Game Of Thrones), Josh Lucas (Beautiful Mind, Sweet Home Alabama), Rade Šerbedžija (Downton Abbey, Eyes Wide Shut) and Finnish Sara Soulié (Nymphs, Other Girls).
The Guardian Angel is also published as a novel by WSOY, one of the leading publishing houses in Finland. It was written together with Kevin Frazier, and Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency has sold the book’s translation rights to Denmark, Italy, Serbia and Portugal.
Trailer
Santa Barbara International Film Festival http://sbiff.org/