DIRECTOR'S WORD
The Subtenant (Kummeli Alivuokralainen) is based on a successful play written for the Tampere Theatre by Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Vihinen.
From the director's viewpoint the greatest challenge was to be able to tell this exuberant story in the language of cinema and make it into an independent work.
The first step in this process was naturally to adapt the play for the big screen; Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Vihinen did a great job in it. The script has multiple layers; it is rich, full of speed and incredibly visual.
Warm and sharp-sighted character building and witty and snappy dialogue familiar to the Kummeli-ryhmä, the comedians behind the successful Kummeli TV show, can be seen in the film as well.
The film has less of the farcical qualities of the play; the film is fast-paced, and the scenes are shorter. As a whole, the film looks more like a comedy. The performances of the actors were toned down quite a bit for the film. The message of the film is humane tolerance.
Kind Regards,
Matti Grönberg
Director
AN ALL-AROUND PROFESSIONAL IN TV
A well-established professional in his field, Matti Tapani Grönberg (born December 3, 1957 in Vesilahti, Finland) has over twenty years of experience in TV as a producer and director. He has worked with entertainment, drama, children's programs, music and sports. Grönberg has directed and produced hundreds of hours of entertainment for YLE – Finnish Broadcasting Company. His work includes both single-camera and multi-camera directing; he has directed large-scale galas, events, concerts and live broadcasts and worked as a post-production producer on a number of projects.
EDUCATION
1988–2008 Producer courses at YLE – Finnish Broadcasting Company
1986–1987 Multi-camera directing course at YLE – Finnish Broadcasting Company
1982–1984 Broadcast monitor course at YLE – Finnish Broadcasting Company
1977 Graduate of Pirkkala Upper Secondary School
WORK EXPERIENCE
1987– Producer, director at YLE TV2 Viihdetoimitus (entertainment)
1984–1987 YLE TV2 broadcast sound monitor
1977–1982 Construction, sales, accounting and assembly work in Finland and Sweden
FEATURE FILMS (DIRECTOR)
Kummeli Stories 1996
Kummeli Goldrush (Kummeli Kultakuume) 1997
The Subtenant (Kummeli Alivuokralainen) 2008