''Producing Adults'' ( fi, Lapsia ja aikuisia – kuinka niitä tehdään?) (''Children and Adults – How To Make Them?'') is a 2004 Finnish

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

written by

Pekko Pesonen Peko (Finnish spelling Pekko, Pekka, Pellon Pekko) is an ancient Estonian and Finnish god of crops, especially barley and brewing. In the area of Setumaa, between Estonia and Russia, inhabited by the Seto language-speaking Setos, the cult of P ...

and directed by

Aleksi Salmenperä Aleksi Salmenperä (born 1973 in Helsinki) is a Finnish film director. He is a graduate of the University of Art and Design Helsinki; among his films are 2004's ''Producing Adults'', 2007's '' A Man's Work'' and 2010 '' Bad Family''. ''A Man's W ...

. It was Finland's official

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

submission for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

of 2004.

Plot

The film deals with the myriad complications arising from Venla's (

Minna Haapkylä Minna-Maria Erika Haapkylä (born 10 June 1973 in Helsinki) is a Finnish actress. She has won two Jussi Awards; one for the best actress in a supporting role for a 1999 Veikko Aaltonen film ''Rakkaudella Maire'', and another in 2009 for the best a ...

) desire to have a child. Her longtime boyfriend Antero (

Kari-Pekka Toivonen Kari-Pekka Toivonen (born 6 May 1967) is a Finnish actor. He received a 2004 Best Actor Jussi Award for the film ''Upswing''. Taivonen, who received his Master's Degree at the Helsinki Theatre Academy, was the recipient of a 2005 Shooting Stars Aw ...

) is reluctant, fearing that fatherhood will imperil his last chance to succeed in his speed skating career and by seeing his friend go through fatherhood. Antero does some extreme things to avoid getting Venla pregnant and she begins to be equally devious in her attempts to conceive. Venla seeks help from her bisexual co-worker at a fertility clinic and the relationship between the two begins to blossom amongst many setbacks.

Cast

as Venla *

as Antero *

Minttu Mustakallio Minttu Mustakallio (born 23 July 1973) is a Finnish actress. Born in Ylivieska, Finland to a Greek father and Finnish mother, she has acted in many Finnish TV dramas and several feature films. She won a Jussi Award in 2005 as Best Supporting Actre ...

as Satu *

Tommi Eronen Tommi Johannes Eronen (born 18 September 1968) is a Finnish actor, best known for starring in the movies '' Jade Warrior'' (2006) and ''Bad Luck Love'' (2000). His performance in ''Bad Luck Love'' garnered him a Jussi Award for Best Supporting Ac ...

as Rönkkö *

Pekka Strang Pekka Kristian Strang (born 23 July 1977) is a Finland-Swedish actor and the artistic director of Lilla Teatern in Helsinki, 2005–2014. He grew up in Vaasa on the Finnish west coast. In 1997 he was admitted to the Theatre Academy of Finland and ...

as Miro * Dick Idman as Claes

Production

''Producing Adults'' was shot on one camera in 40 days, on a budget of $1,200,000 euros.

Release

The film was released in Sweden as ''Hela vägen'' (''All the Way'') on 26 November 2004.

Home media

''Producing Adults'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in North America by

Wolfe Video Wolfe Video is the oldest and largest exclusive producer and distributor of LGBT films in North America. Founded in 1985 in New Almaden by Kathy Wolfe, the company began as a consumer mail order distribution company for lesbian VHS videos but ha ...

on 19 July 2005. In Region 2, the DVD was released by

Peccadillo Pictures Peccadillo Pictures is a UK-based film producer and distributor of art house, gay and lesbian, independent and world cinema. They have provided distribution for many films such as ''Weekend (2011 film), Weekend'', ''Tomboy (2011 film), Tomboy'', ...

on 12 April 2010.

Reception

Critical response

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described ''Producing Adults'' as "small but charming" and with a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

theme that "comes gradually and naturally into the story which never succumbs to the men-are-bad, women-are-fine cliche." ''

AfterEllen AfterEllen (also known as AfterEllen.com) is an American culture website founded in 2002, with a focus on entertainment, interviews, reviews, and news of interest to the lesbian and bisexual women's community. The site covers pop culture and lifes ...

'' said that "While we all adore a good coming out story ... sometimes it's nice to see a more realistic look at romance in all of its heartbreaking complexity." ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' praised it as "an insightful, well-acted film."

Accolades

won "Best Supporting Actress" at the 2005

Jussi Award The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers. History The first Jussi Awards ceremony was held on 16 November 1944 at the Restaurant Adlon in Hels ...

s (Finland's main film industry awards). Aleksi Salmenperä won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Stockholm Film Awards.

References

External links

* (Archive)
''Lapsia ja aikuisia – Producing Adults''
at

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

''Lapsia ja aikuisia – kuinka niitä tehdään?''
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

''Producing Adults (Lapsia ja aikuisia – kuinka niitä tehdään?'')
at

Finnish Film Foundation The Finnish Film Foundation ( fi, Suomen elokuvasäätiö, sv, Finlands filmstiftelse) is an independent foundation with the task of supporting and developing Finnish film production, distribution and exhibition. It is supervised by the Departmen ...

(Archive)
''Lapsia ja aikuisia – Kuinka niitä tehdään?''
at Lumiere
''Lapsia ja aikuisia''
at

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute ( sv, Svenska Filminstitutet) was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the ''Filmhuset'' building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm. The building, comp ...

* * 2004 films 2004 comedy-drama films Bisexuality-related films LGBT-related comedy-drama films Finnish comedy-drama films 2000s Finnish-language films Finnish LGBT-related films Lesbian-related films 2004 LGBT-related films {{Finland-film-stub