Lex Julia

Julia, early 30s, travels to her old friend Anna’s island villa for a late summer weekend. When Anna introduces her new husband, JP, Julia recognises him as her date-rapist of fifteen years earlier. Both Julia and JP keep their past acquaintance a secret from Anna, who grows increasingly uneasy about the tension between her husband and her old friend. Over the weekend, the simmering conflicts between the trio deepen.

Lex Julia explores the unsettling dynamics of acquaintance rape, intertwining three destinies and three different points of view. Was Julia and JP’s encounter a sincere misunderstanding or a cold-blooded attack? What could, or should be done about it, years later? When a violation can’t be proven, whose story is heard and believed? How does one heal and get closure?

Director's note:

Lex Julia is a nuanced, slow-burning psychological thriller that draws viewers in with elements of mystery and a growing tension between its protagonists. At the emotional core of the story is the disturbing reality of the victim’s experience when faced again with their perpetrator. On the surface, the characters pretend everything is okay. Beneath, they are living their personal nightmares. This will be an atmospheric, visceral, and visually stylised journey into the dark side of human psyche.

Director's bio:

Laura Hypponen’s debut feature Live East Die Young (UK, 2012) was nominated Best Feature at Raindance, Hitchcock d’Or at Dinard (FR), and sold internationally by Reel Suspects (FR). Her shorts have won awards and screened at festivals and platforms including Tampere, HIFF, Aesthetica, Shorts International, and Vogue. She has an MA in Screenwriting and is an alumna of Nipkow Programme, Berlinale Talents, and European Film College (DK). She divides her time between Amsterdam, Berlin, and Helsinki.

Producer's bio:

Essi Haukkamaa is a Finnish born Film and TV producer. She has more than 20 years of experience, working in different production roles in Finland and Australia, and has citizenship for both countries.

Before starting Greenlit Productions in 2011, Haukkamaa managed a production company in Australia, producing several short films that have enjoyed considerable success at various film festivals. While working as a producer in Greenlit Productions she has finished the War/Peace feature documentary with director Inderjit Kaur Khalsa and now has a number of feature and documentary films in development and production.

Since 2000, Merja Ritola has been working on 44 titles (among them Iron Sky, Jade Warrior, Man’s Job) and 24 out of them as a producer. During her career she has participated in EAVE and EWA workshops and since 2012 she has been an independent producer for short films, documentaries, and fiction features. In 2017, she joined Greenlit Productions, established by producer Essi Haukkamaa.

Ritola’s productions include the feature documentary The Seamstress by Ville Suhonen, which won 2016 a Jussi Award for the Best Documentary Film and the award-winning documentary film Putting Lipstick on a Pig by Johan Karrento, the internationally acclaimed feature documentary The Voice of Sokurov by Leena Kilpeläinen and nationally acclaimed science-fiction feature Apeiron by Maria Ruotsala.

Company profile:

Producer Essi Haukkamaa founded Greenlit Productions in 2011 and Merja Ritola joined the company as Managing Director and Producer in 2017.

Directors Mervi Enqvist and Leena Kilpeläinen also joined as minority shareholders alongside with translator Mikko Lyytikäinen in 2017. All of them have worked with Ritola and Haukkamaa in several projects prior.
Besides Helsinki, the company has an office in Sydney, Australia, with the aim of an increasingly international approach to productions.

Greenlit Productions has currently several feature films and feature-length documentaries in different stages of production, topics ranging from drama to comedy and international politics.

Greenlit Productions discovers and works with talented, original filmmakers and lets them be heard.