2019 kick started positively in Finland, with 3,848,065 total admissions (up 6.3% from 2018) and estimated B.O. of €42,744,695 (+7%).

Local films also benefitted from the surge in ticket sales (+8.4%) from 784,730 in 2018 to 850,588 in 2019, reflected as well in the market share that improved slightly from 21.8% to 22.1%, according to figures from the Finnish Film Foundation.

As always, kids movies boosted admissions, especially Ricky Rapper and the Strongman - latest instalment in the long running Ricky Rapper franchise - that took the second place at the top 10 after Disney’s Avengers: Endgame. The music biopic The Ragged Life of Juice Leskinen by Teppo Airaksinen came in at number seven, beating the Oscar-winning film Green Book, Disney’s Dumbo and Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon 3.

Finnish documentaries also continue to enjoy a strong fan base, especially two films praising the national wildlife and natural beauties, Ailo’s Journey and Nature Symphony, number 5 and 9 respectively at the Finnish film chart. Both films were initiated (or partly in the case of Ailo’s Journey) by the experienced nature documentary filmmaker/producer Marko Röhr (MRP Matila Röhr Productions).

Within the arthouse market, Klaus Härö’s One Last Deal was the fourth best-selling Finnish film, while the debut film Aurora by Miia Tervo (2019 Nordic Council Film Prize nominee) was ranked number 6.

The rest of the year looks promising for Finnish films with a handful of comedies and two biopics - Maria’s Paradise by Zaida Bergroth and King of Hearts by Aleksi Mäkelä that should secure high attendance. Mäkelä’s film about popular country singer Kari Tapio has already sold more than 42,000 tickets in its first weekend.

The top non-Finnish Nordic films were the Swedish family films Bamse and the Thunderbell by Christian Ryltenius (21,219 admissions, Nordisk Film) and Sune vs Sune by Jon Holmberg (8,785 admissions, Atlantic Film).

See Finland 2019 January - June Admissions: CLICK HERE.