Anna Sofia Eriksson (born 22 April 1977) is a Finnish artist, filmmaker, composer, and singer. In September 2018, avantgarde film '' M'' directed and produced by Eriksson was having the world premiere at the Venice International Film Critics Week, 75th Venice International Film Festival. In 2022, her second feature film ''W'' premiered at the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

. Eriksson is one of the most successful singers in Finnish chart history.

Career

''Kiitorata'' and three albums (1995–1999)

Anna Eriksson came to public attention after participating in the ''Kiitorata'' song competition on

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

in 1995. Her debut album ''Anna Eriksson'' was released in 1997. More than 81,000 copies have been sold, or double platinum. The album produced successful singles ''Juliet ja Joonatan'' and ''Kesä yhdessä''. With her debut album, Eriksson was awarded with the Emma award as the Newcomer of the Year. In 1998 for Christmas Eriksson released the Christmas album ''Anna Joulu'', which did not place on album charts but gradually ended up selling gold. The following year, the third album, ''Odota mua'' was released, featuring the hit song ''Ilta yöhön kuljettaa''.

Eurovision qualification and two successful albums (2000–2004)

In 2000, Eriksson participated in the qualification for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

with the song ''Oot voimani mun'' written by Petri Laaksonen. She finished second in the final, losing to the winner by three points. However, the song later won the first Finnish song in the

OGAE The (; ), shortened to OGAE, is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and worldwide. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikka ...

Second Chance Contest where the best of the qualifiers from Eurovision songs is selected. In 2001, Eriksson's ''Kun katsoit minuun'' was voted the best

iskelmä The music of Finland can be roughly divided into folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music. The folk music of Finland belongs to a broader musical tradition, common amongst Balto-Finnic people, sung in ...

of the year in a public vote organized by Iskelmä Radio. After selling over 57,000 songs, ''Kun katsoit minuun'', Eriksson was again presented with the Emma Award as the Female Artist of the Year. Released in November 2003, the ''Kaikista kasvoista'' album sold platinum and the title song became one of Eriksson's most famous hits.

From ''Sinusta sinuun'' and ''Ihode'' (2005–2009)

In the fall of 2005, Eriksson gave a concert tour of 16 locations in honor of the tenth anniversary of the artist, with the release of the album ''Sinusta sinuun''. More than 50,000 copies of the album were sold and again included hit songs, including ''Ei se mennyt niin''. Most of the songs in the ''Sinusta sinuun'' album were written by Eriksson and Sipe Santapukki. In the autumn of 2007, Eriksson released her seventh album, named after the artist's domicile, ''Ihode''.

New style and film career (2010–)

Anna Eriksson at the Prague Independent Film Festival

Eriksson's eighth and first English language studio album ''Garden of Love'' was released on 25 February 2010. The album was completely different in style from the artist's previous releases. The new album presented a shift to a more personal and dramatic expression for the former performer of pop-iskelmä music. All of the songs on the ''Garden of Love'' album are composed and written by Eriksson herself. In 2012 Eriksson released her latest studio album, ''Mana'', which she composed, wrote and produced herself. In 2013, Eriksson was awarded the Teosto Prize (one of the biggest art prizes in the Nordic countries). The ''Mana'' album was a "bold break" from Eriksson's previous productions. ''Mana'' broke the gold barrier in 2012 with 14,000 copies sold. She also began work as a columnist for ''

Turun Sanomat is the leading regional newspaper of the region of Southwest Finland. It is published in the region's capital, Turku and the third most widely read morning newspaper in Finland after ''Helsingin Sanomat'' and ''Aamulehti''. History and profile ...

'' in 2012. In September 2018, avantgarde film '' M'' directed and produced by Eriksson was having the world premiere at the Venice International Film Critics Week,

75th Venice International Film Festival The 75th Venice International Film Festival was held from 29 August to 8 September 2018, at Venice Lido in Italy. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actor Michele Riondino hosted the o ...

. Only one Finnish film has been selected for this section previously. Eriksson plays the lead role in the film and wrote the script, music, did sound design and editing herself. In 2019 the film received the Grand Prix and Best Feature Film awards at the

Prague Independent Film Festival Prague Independent Film Festival (PIFF) () is an international film festival held annually in August in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. The festival focuses on independent cinema. Festival founder and director is Diana Ringo. History 20 ...

. The same year at

Vienna Independent Film Festival VIFF Vienna Independent Film Festival is an international film festival held annually in July in Vienna, capital of Austria. The festival focuses on independent cinema. History The Vienna Independent Film Festival was held for the first time o ...

, the film received the Best Feature Film and Best Cinematography awards. Eriksson received the Best director Tarkovsky Award 2019 at The Blow-up Arthouse Film Festival in Chicago. Eriksson's M - The Rituals of a Lonely B...H Art Exhibition was held in 2020 in Rauma Art Museum. Eriksson has no plans to release new music in the near future. However, she intends to continue performing as a singer. She next plans to film in the United States. In October 2018, Eriksson released a song "Gaia's Child" in collaboration with

Stam1na Stam1na (pronounced ) is a Finnish Heavy metal music, metal band native of Lemi, South Karelia. Their music is arguably best described as thrash metal with some progressive metal, death metal, death, Alternative metal, alternative and punk rock ...

. In March 2021 it has been confirmed that Eriksson has received government funding from Finland for her new feature film titled ''W''. In August 2022, political art film '' W'' film directed and written by Eriksson had the world premiere at the

. The film won the Best Feature Film and Best Film Score awards at the

. The film W received the Best Director, Best Actress (Anna Eriksson) and Best Art Direction awards at the 2023

. In 2022 Anna Eriksson won the Espoo Ciné Film Award for her achievements in cinema. She was granted by Kone Foundation KoneFoundation for her new film E

Personal life

During childhood, Eriksson lived in India, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania because of her father's work as an engineer. She was a keen singer and performer since childhood. Abroad she has performed at many children's parties, embassy parties, churches and school parties. She enjoys painting. Eriksson got married on 9 August 2008 to photographer and cinematographer Matti Pyykkö. She gave birth to her son in May 2013 and the family lives in

Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki (; , ) is a list of towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland regions of Finland, region, northwest of Turku and south of Pori. The municipality has a pop ...

Discography

Albums

;Compilation albums

Singles

;Featured in

Filmography

*'' M'' (2018) *'' W'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksson, Anna 1977 births Living people 21st-century Finnish women singers Finnish pop singers Finnish women pop singers Finnish rock singers Finnish women rock singers English-language singers from Finland Finnish film directors Finnish women film directors Finnish film score composers Finnish electronic musicians Finnish women keyboardists Finnish keyboardists