The new ‘Kehittämö’ talent development lab is a joint initiative from AVEK - the Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture, and the Finnish Cultural Foundation that are investing almost €1 million for the next four years.

Kehittämö (meaning ‘development’) is the very first audiovisual development programme in Finland focusing on talents still in the early stages of their careers.

”With the Kehittämö programme, we can bring high quality fiction and documentary films, media artworks and other audiovisual works to the culture-loving audience,” said Juhana Lassila, director of cultural affairs at the Finnish Cultural Foundation. “AVEK has an excellent understanding and wide networks in the audiovisual sector and working with them will bring high-added value to the Cultural Foundation’s work.”

”The amount of audiovisual culture content offered to the public is exceptionally high at the moment, and only truly original works have any real chances of success,” added AVEK director Ulla Simonen. “Right after graduating, young filmmakers and media artists are faced with a lot of competitive pressures and the development of their own artistic idiom might prove challenging,” said long-time documentary specialist Simonen.

To apply, rising filmmakers or media artists can submit an idea with the first proof of concept for a feature-length fiction film, documentary, media art or other audiovisual project. Selected participants will then be matched with a production company, so that the project will reach production stage.

Beside financial support, the five selected projects will receive mentoring over a 6-10 months period from US script editor Karol Griffiths, who has worked with Coen Brothers and Steven Spielberg among others, documentary heavyweight Gitte Hansen, expert in international financing and distribution, and producer Alex Szalat, founder of the Docs Up Fund.

The projects and results of the Kehittämö programme will be presented at the Finnish Film Affair showcase in Helsinki in September 2023.

The call for applications is open since September 22 and closes November 21, 2022. To apply CLICK HERE.

Further details on the application process: CLICK HERE.