Olli Saarela is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 film director. He has directed films such as Ambush, Bad Luck Love

Bad Luck Love

Bad Luck Love is a 2000 Finnish crime drama film directed by Olli Saarela.- Cast :* Jorma Tommila as Ali* Tommi Eronen as Pulu, Ali's brother* Maria Järvenhelmi as Inka, Ali's girlfriend* Ilkka Koivula as Alpi* Kari Väänänen as Heinonen...

, Rollo and the Woods Sprite and Year of the Wolf, which is based on a book written by Virpi Hämeen-Anttila

Virpi Hämeen-Anttila

Virpi Hämeen-Anttila is a Finnish writer and recipient of the Eino Leino Prize in 2002 along with Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila.-References:...

.

Family

On May 21, 2006, Saarela married Tanja Karpela (née Vienonen; previously Karpela), who is the current Minister of Culture in Finland and was Miss Finland

Miss Finland

-External links:*...

 in 1991. Saarela was previously married to Anu Pirilä, with whom he has three children: Venla, Nicholas and Anton.

Education and career

Before Saarela started studying to become a film director, he worked as a firefighter

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

.

Production company and soundtracks

MRP Matila Röhr Productions is the company that is usually responsible for producing Saarela's movies. Tuomas Kantelinen

Tuomas Kantelinen

Tuomas Kantelinen is a Finnish composer. He studied composition at the Sibelius Academy with Eero Hämeenniemi. He is best known for his scores for films such as Rukajärven tie, Äideistä parhain, Mindhunters and Mongol...

 is responsible for creating the soundtracks to Saarela's films.

The Heinäluoma incident

In August 2006, Saarela directly attacked Minister of Finance

Minister of Finance (Finland)

The Minister of Finance of Finland handles the Finance of Finland and all other matters covered by the Ministry of Finance...

 Eero Heinäluoma

Eero Heinäluoma

Eero Olavi Heinäluoma is the current Speaker of the Parliament of Finland. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership by Jutta Urpilainen in June 2008....

 in an interview for Image Magazine, since, in his opinion, the Social Democratic Party of Finland

Social Democratic Party of Finland

The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...

 that Heinäluoma heads had slandered his wife during budget negotiations. Minister of Culture Tanja Saarela ended up having to explain her husband's comments to the press and Olli Saarela later apologized for his rash comments.

Filmography

• The Redemption (Lunastus, 1997)
• Ambush (Rukajärven tie, 1999)
• Bad Luck Love
  Bad Luck Love
  Bad Luck Love is a 2000 Finnish crime drama film directed by Olli Saarela.- Cast :* Jorma Tommila as Ali* Tommi Eronen as Pulu, Ali's brother* Maria Järvenhelmi as Inka, Ali's girlfriend* Ilkka Koivula as Alpi* Kari Väänänen as Heinonen...
  
  (2000)
• Rollo and the Woods Sprite (Rölli ja metsänhenki, 2001)
• The Year of the Wolf (Suden vuosi, 2007)
• Priest of Evil (Harjunpää ja pahan pappi, 2010)

Short films

• Rotta (1989)
• Let Sleeping Animals Rest in Peace (Antakaa eläinten nukkua rauhassa, 1992)
• Juha Antti-Poika (1992)
• Julma maaseutu (1993)
• Ristin juurella (1997)
• Koverhar - Three Days from the Life of a Butcher (Koverhar - lihanleikkaajan kolme päivää, 1998)

External links