Hannu Salonen was born in Finland 1972. After the graduation from the Northbridge High School in Whitinsville, Massachusetts (U.S), Salonen attended the Kallio High School of Performing Arts in Helsinki, Finland. 1993 Salonen began his film studies at the Berlin Film Academy (dffb) and finished 1999 with his award winning debut feature Downhill City. Over the past decade Salonen's highly acclaimed, commercially successful films have established him both in Middle Europe and Scandinavia as one of the preeminent directors dedicated for the new wave of modern film- and TV-making.