Little Mr Sandman

When eight-year-old Anni's beloved Grandmother dies, she struggles to cope with the loss. Unable to sleep without her Grandma's bedtime stories, Anni invites the Sandman, a character from her tales. A Film about the healing power of imagination.

The story follows Anni, an imaginative young girl struggling to cope with the loss of her beloved Grandmother. Unable to sleep and troubled by the absence of her Grandma's bedtime stories, Anni is one night visited by the mythical Sandman - who, to her surprise, has run out of his magical sleeping sand. Determined to help, Anni promises to find more sand for him.

Realizing that the sleeping sand may be hidden in the magical lands from her Grandma's stories, Anni sets off with the Sandman aboard his airship, traveling above the clouds to these enchanted places.

Meanwhile, Anni’s father becomes increasingly worried about her vivid tales and drawings, while her brother, Onni, discovers that children everywhere are suffering from a mysterious insomnia. Anni also begins to grasp how vital the sleeping sand is for the Sandman. When Anni sets off alone to a cave in Tasmania to find the sand, Onni finally meets the exhausted Sandman and urges him to help rescue his sister.

In a climactic encounter in the Tasmanian Beast’s cave, Anni confronts her deepest fears and finds the strength within herself to overcome them. The trio escapes with the precious sand, restoring the Sandman’s power and ending the children's insomnia. Anni accepts her Grandma's death but finds comfort in dreaming of her.

Keywords: death, grief, children

Director's note:
Little Mr Sandman is set to be a truly unique children's film, both in content and execution. The story is delightful, fantastical, and emotionally resonant, addressing a deeply serious subject. While the film follows Anni’s journey to rediscover security after the loss of her beloved Grandmother, it also powerfully portrays a child’s subconscious ability to navigate complex emotions. The narrative seamlessly intertwines everyday life with elements of fantasy, creating an experience that is both surprising and engaging.

Through Anni’s nightly adventures with the Sandman, we will employ the latest creative technologies to bring her imaginative world to life.

My vision is to create a poignant film that neither shies away from nor oversimplifies complex emotions, but the way it's told speaks to the child in all of us. The interplay between Anni’s ordinary reality and her dreamlike journeys highlights the healing power of imagination, always with respect for a child’s perspective.

Producer's note

Little Mr Sandman has a solid production set up in the co-production between Inland Film Co of Helsinki, Münchhausen Films of Tallinn and Iris Film of Luleå, Swe. The movie will shoot in the late spring / summer of 2026 and will be completed for the festival circuit and for commercial premiering in March 2027.

The core of the film is best described in these words by writer Kati Kaartinen: "Sandman, aimed at the whole family, boldly tackles significant and 'real' themes through the means of a live-action film. In the world of animation, it's often easier to deal with loss, grief, and death because the genre 'protects' the viewer through detachment. In Sandman, alongside the viewer, freedom granted by imagination and compassion accompanies themes of grief and death. Sandman's story doesn't evade or dilute any emotions. It combines everyday life and fantasy in a surprising way, while particularly respecting the perspective of a child. A child's means of understanding the story (and life) and accepting its twists can be, and indeed are, different from an adult's. I hope this understanding is listened to with a closer ear. Nevertheless, I believe Sandman opens its world to viewers of all ages and is unquestionably a family film.