Finnish Film Affair: Best Pitch Awards to Je’Vida, Natatorium and The Last Chapter

Gauriloff, the Finnish director of Cannes Dreams, Baby Jane was on hand in Helsinki to receive the award on Thursday September 22, together with Oktober producer Joonas Berghäll.

Shot in black and white, Je’Vida is the first film ever made in Skolt Sámi language. Told through three different time periods, it centres on a woman who has abandoned her past under the pressures of assimilation.

Speaking about Je’Vida, the jury said it’s “a story that needs to be told, with real potential to become relatable globally. The presentation and cinematography felt personal, beautiful and visually striking.”

While pitching the project, Gauriloff who is Skolt Sámi herself, said the film is very personal, based on her own mother’s recounting of her youth. “All characters are real people and native Sámi speakers. The fact that this first Skolt Sámi film is made is a miracle. Our language is severely endangered with 300-400 native speakers only. I belong to first generation who inherited the trauma of changing culture and trying to take something from the past to pass it to the next generation. Making this film was important for me,” said the director who sees in it a universal story about roots and family tradition.

The film was co-financed by Yle, the Finnish Film Foundation, the International Sami Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The Best Nordic Project award went to the Icelandic/Finnish thriller drama Natatorium by writer/director Helena Magneudóttir. The story follows Lilja (18) who decides to stay at her estranged grand-mother’s villa. The latter performs weird religious rituals and lives with her son Karl who suffers from a long-term lung illness.

“This is an intriguing project that we’d love to follow and explore more”, said the Fiction Jury. “Despite having just started filming, the film already feels like it has a distinctive, atmospheric voice and a style that grabbed our attention.”

Currently in production, Natatorium is produced by Iceland’s Sunna Gudnadóttir of Bjartsýn Films, in co-production with Finland’s Julia Elomäki of Tekele Productions, and Heather Millard of Silfurskjár, Iceland. Delivery is set for spring 2023.

The third major award for Best Documentary Project went to The Last Chapter by Mohamed El Aboudi (School of Hope). The film produced by Kirsi Mattila of Icebreaker Productions, follows three immigrants in Finland, Paul (87), originally from Ghana, Uganda-born Justin (68) and Sudanese refugee Sisto (69), who face the question of where and how they want to spend the last chapters of their lives.

“The project tackles complex and universal questions that will become more and more relevant, and haven’t been touched before,” said the documentary jury consisting of Pierre-Alexis Chevit, Head of Cannes Docs-Marché du Film, Poppy McAlister, Sales Manager at TVF International, and Shane Smith, Artistic Director at Hot Docs.

Close to 500 guests from 22 countries watched 26 pitches of some the best upcoming Finnish and Nordic projects on Thursday.

Buzz titles
Other buzzed about Finnish fiction projects were the family films Snot & Splash from It’s Alive Films’ gifted duo Jani Pösö and director Teemu Nikki, Arto Halonen’s first children’s film Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone, Kaisa el Ramly’s road movie Getaways & Dreams, and Selma Vilhunen’s Four Little Adults, all available for sales.

Besides Natatorium, the other Nordic projects pitched Handling the Undead by Norwegian rising director Thea Hvistendahl and Viktor vs the World by Danish emerging director Christian Arhoff were other favourites among foreign buyers.

The atmospheric chiller Handling the Undead based on a script by Let the Right One In’s John Alvide Lindqvist stars The Worst Person in the World’s Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie. On a hot summer day, an electrical field hits Oslo, creating chaos and awakening the dead, turning three families into turmoil.

According to producer Kristin Eblem of Einar Film who pitched the film in Helsinki, the film sold by TrustNordisk has already been pre-sold to NEON for the US and the UK.

Handling the Undead is co-produced by Zentropa Sweden, with support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The Norwegian release via Nordisk Film is set for the fall 2023.

Meanwhile Arhoff’s Viktor vs. The World, feature-length version of his multi-awarded graduation film from the National Film School of Denmark, also conquered FFA delegates with its quirky humour and heart-warming romantic love story.

“When I moved away from my parents’ home as a student, I didn’t know how to be an adult - I got an expensive flat, a bank loan that I‘m still repaying,” said the director during his pitch. “Sometimes there are rules that people know but I didn’t know them. Viktor [the main character] is the same. ”We often try to fit in, to be the person that people want us to be-but does this really make us happy? I want to explore this in a comedic way,” continued Arhoff.

The film produced by Hyæne Film co-founder Daniel Mühlendorph and Robin Hounisen, will be released in Denmark by Nordisk Film on May 4, 2023.

Among the documentaries pitched, Rap and Reindeer by Petteri Saario (Maiden and the Lake) caught buyers’ eyes with its catchy portrayal of 18-year-old rapper Mihkku, caught between his strong Sámi roots and his rise to stardom as a musician.

Almost 500 delegates attended this week’s 11^th Finnish Film Affair, held next to the Helsinki International Film Festival’s Love & Anarchy. “Compared to our last on-site edition in 2019, we’ve had a 25% increase in attendance. It really shows the strength and appeal of both the local industry and our event,” said Head of Finnish Film Affair & Nordic Flair Maria Pirkkalainen.

Commenting on the event, Swedish distributor Rose-Marie Strand of Folkets Bio said she enjoyed the “broad variety of Finnish projects showcased that slightly moved away from the arthouse towards the more commercial market.

Michael Fleischer, CEO of Scandinavian Film Distribution also felt a lot of projects pitched had commercial potential. His company which sponsored the Finnish film showcase for the first time, is now well-established in Finland.

Smile Entertainment’s Timo T. Lahtinen praised the organisers who have cleverly developed the Finnish Film Affair from a pure screening event to a must attend mini-market for international sellers, distributors and programmers, benefitting as well the local industry, with tailor-made training programmes. 'There is a very good energy here!' said the veteran Nordic distributor.