AJ Annila

Film and television composer Daniel Licht will receive Composer of the Year at the Third Annual Russian Horror Film Awards on January 28, 2012, in Moscow. Other honorees include director Stuart Gordon (Stuck), director AJ Annila (Sauna), and actress Jodelle Ferland (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse).

We've all seen what happens when a man (or lately a bunch of shirtless brooding teenagers) transforms into a hairy beast that stalks the night, but ever wonder what would happen if the metamorphosis went the other way?

Though it’s one of those films that sounds exceedingly difficult to describe without having seen it, which I have not, that still hasn’t stopped AJ Annila’s Sauna from getting buzz all over the festival world. Today that buzz has culminated in the Variety announcement that IFC Entertainment has acquired the rights to Sauna for the U.S.

I have to admit, as well-read as I am, I had no idea that there was an entire sauna culture in Finland. Apparently it is a no-zone between Christianity and Paganism, where sins can be easily washed away.