Testimonials

“Thanks so much for today – you really helped us get that scene in the time allowed and amazingly I think it will work great!!” (Director)

“I feel bloody fantastic about working together with you! It just all felt safe and creative.” (Actor)

“Collaborating with Pia on the dramaturgy and the choreography of the intimate scenes was easy and creative. Thanks to her professionalism we were able to create choreographies much more precise, realistic and creative than I could have ever done alone.” (Director)

“It’s lovely to see such care taken in this area of the industry by professionals like Pia, who really go above and beyond to keep actors and crew safe and supported.” (Line producer)

“Pia was bringing a language and specificity to the intimate scenes that helped to navigate the different creative ideas to achieve the director’s vision.” (Producer)

“Pia expertly guided us during pre-production, and shared the IC workflow in a clear and thorough way which helped everyone to be be prepared for what the process with intimate content would look like.” (1st Assistant director)

“Pia’s rehearsals with the actors were a wonderful forum of collaboration. She was professional yet fun, which was very important to me. My actors trusted Pia and felt comfortable with her.” (Director)

“We planned the scenes with the intimacy coordinator and they were completely choreographed – just like dance or fight scenes… In the end, the days of filming the intimate scenes were our favourite. They were so well-rehearsed, and we had a lot of time to do it. The set was closed and the atmosphere was very calm.” (Actor)

“To create the choreography, I worked closely with intimacy coordinator Pia Rickman. She had wonderful techniques for creating the illusion of what was happening, and I loved the rehearsal process that she took the actors and me on. Any awkwardness people may have had went away because we simply concentrated on the narrative and how to tell it. We actually had fun figuring out the details—it is an exciting professional challenge to create a physical choreography that makes room for emotion and performance. The actors were encouraged to take part in the making of the choreography, but also encouraged to opt out any time they’d feel like it’s more of a burden than a privilege.” (Director Alli Haapasalo, Girl Picture/ Filmmaker Magazine 8/22)

Reviews:

…such a vivid, lovable triple-decker performance from Milonoff, Kauhanen and Leino. (Girls Girls Girls/ UK title for Girl Picture/ The Guardian 28/9/2022)

It may be sensitive, low-key and naturalistic, but Girls Girls Girls still paints a portrait of adolescence that feels radical in its progressiveness… With its earnest focus on female desire and honest presentation of lesbian relationships, Girls Girls Girls is a slyly subversive coming-of-age movie. (Girls Girls Girls/ Girl Picture/ Curzon 27/9/2022)

Milonoff and Leino share irresistible chemistry, impossible to look away from as their young love blooms. Though the couple try to exist in a bubble of happiness, separate from the rest of the world, their issues remain internal and thus, inescapable. Leino is a frequent scene-stealer, wearing Emma’s wounded determination on her sleeve, while Milonoff leads with endless charisma, all the more heartbreaking when her confidence falters. (Girl Picture/ SLASHFILM 26/1/22)

Girl Picture is that rare movie about female pleasure, particularly young female pleasure. There’s nothing sexually explicit on Haapasalo’s celluloid but the underlying drive to connect with someone sexually, or emotionally, is white hot nonetheless… But it’s also about something greater: about learning how to advocate for yourself, to say what you mean, and mean what you say. At any stage in your life. (Girl Picture/ SCREEN RIOT 24/1/22)

Aamu Milonoff could have chemistry with a rock, and she gives one of the best youth performances of the entire fest… Girl Picture is, in a lot of ways, girl heaven. Haapasalo loves her characters and treats them with the utmost dignity and respect despite the sticky situations they end up in. It preaches love and community and making room for yourself in your own life. (Girl Picture/ BUFFED FILMBUFFS 27/1/22)

We talked and talked and talked – about youth, our shared experiences, differing experiences, girlhood, relationships, parents – you name it. And every intimate scene was choreographed and rehearsed with intimacy coordinator Pia Rickman. Aamu, Eleonoora and Linnea embraced the extensive prep full on, and that’s what made it all work. There was a great sense of everyone working on a shared goal and caring deeply about the project. (Girl Picture/ Loud and Clear 30/1/2022)

Mestarillinen kuvaus nuoruudesta ja kasvamisesta nousee parhaimpien kotimaisten romaanifilmatisointien joukkoon. (Yellow Sulphur Sky/ Episodi 3/11/21)

The scenes in which Tove bares it all, connecting with a loved one, are captured in the most tasteful and romantic way by Bergroth. Instead of showing what goes on in these most private events, she chooses to avoid unnecessary clichés and rather goes for the build-up, which is just as intimate. ‘Tove‘ is in ways comparable to Todd Haynes’ 2015 drama ‘Carol‘. The same sense of desire finds a balance with Bergroth’s own vision. (Tove / IntoScreens 09/09/20)

There is a noted dedication to showing the physicality of their love, with hands pawing at backs when they don’t yet want to part, sleepily toying with a lover’s bangs in the morning, and untying the straps of a dress, that makes their love feel tactile. The frequent scenes of intimacy never feel made for male consumption, with unobtrusive ways to avoid nudity, and body hair, that only serves as further evidence to call Tove an example of the female gaze. (Tove/ Cinema Etc. 09/2020)

©PIA RICKMAN 2016-2025