Director Alli Haapasalo Talks High-Profile Göteborg Debut ‘Tell Everyone,’ a Period Drama That’s ‘Just as Relevant’ Today as Trailer Debuts (EXCLUSIVE)

In her latest drama “ Tell Everyone ” Finnish director Alli Haapasalo - also known for Sundance hit ‘Girl Picture’ - goes back to the year 1898. But she found few differences between the past and the present. Alli Haapasalo, director of Göteborg world premiere ‘Tell Everyone’Marica Rosengård “That’s the saddest part of the story - it’s just as relevant. This film deals with female suffering, both mental and physical, still viewed through the same gender-biased lens,” she tells Variety . In “Tell Everyone” - sold by LevelK - women who commit crimes or simply refuse to conform are sent to the remote island of Seili in the Finnish archipelago. Just like Amanda (Marketta Tikkanen), labelled as mad simply because she suffers from severe menstrual pain. The film, world-premiering at Göteborg Film Festival, debuts its trailer here: Popular on Variety “My husband recommended a New York Times podcast [‘The Retrievals’] about female pain and how it’s misunderstood and ignored. Thousands of women suffer from With PMDD [Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder] yet it’s considered ‘insignificant’ because it doesn’t affect both genders. Not to mention we’re only now starting to talk about menopause, at least in Finland,” notes Haapasalo. “I remember when we were shooting the scene where blood was running down Amanda’s hairy legs. There was nothing awkward or shameful about it. Maybe we’re slowly moving from the dinosaur era to a time when men and women can look at menstrual blood in a scene and it’s totally fine.” Based on a novel by Katja Kallio, the film references hundreds of true stories. “These ‘prison islands’ existed in many countries. The island of Seili started out as a hospital for people with leprosy and became a mental institution in the 19th century. Initially, it housed both men and women, but then all the men were moved - which must have been a crazy process,” notes the director. It hasn’t always been run by medical professionals. “These people used to work on farms. They didn’t know much about psychiatry - they didn’t even believe in it. The idea was to keep mental health patients separate from society so that they wouldn’t pose a danger to others.” She adds: “This woman, Amanda, actually claimed she had flown to Paris in a hot air balloon to Paris. It was in her medical records, which caught Kallio’s attention. She asked herself: ‘What if we believe her and don’t just dismiss it as the story of a crazy woman?’” Haapasalo was committed to depicting a “ruthless time” and a protagonist whose “only crime was being a woman with integrity”. “If you weren’t productive, you were just another mouth to feed. People were put away not just because of their mental health. Sick of their wives, husbands could come up with a reason, and many of these women were simply poor. Amanda didn’t have a home, and that was enough to have her committed to an institution.” Despite such horrific details, she ultimately portrayed a place that, despite...

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