Finnish Film Affair’s policy of back to basics set delegate records

This year’s edition of the industry event Finnish Film Affair (FFA), organised as part of the Helsinki International Film Festival (HIFF) - Love and Anarchy, welcomed a record-breaking 550 delegates during September 24–26.

The packed programme focused on different aspects of the changing industry, such as navigating public funding, new ways of distribution, and how to reach festival screens and audiences in times of information abundance.

It is the first year as the Executive Director of HIFF for Pauliina Ståhlberg, and both the festival and its industry part had more attendees than in years. She explains that this year’s FFA relates back to why it was created – to churn out Finnish and Nordic productions to the world, and foster meetings. The principle that worked was:

“Going back to the basics of how we can we work together as the Nordics, with the Baltics and the rest of Europe. We really need that right now, because everybody needs co-productions, and as government funding is dropping everywhere and institutional support is decreasing. We all need each other, and we all need to partner up more,” Ståhlberg concludes.

This is also the first year for Lydia Taylerson as the FFA’s Head of Industry. She has put efforts into bringing back Nordic Flair after a year’s break. The initiative offers career development for Nordic talent, and this year’s focus was on emerging producers, making good use of the strong guest list.

“I wanted to bring it back because of the difficult financial situation in the industry. We were feeling the lack of these opportunities, so it was the perfect time to bring back Nordic Flair, and we also wanted to do it in a sustainable way,” Taylerson says.

Barbora Struss, CEO and establisher of the MIDPOINT Institute, was satisfied with her three days as a delegate at the industry event:

“I had the privilege to meet emerging producers from the Nordics and to discuss their plans and upcoming projects. On the Showcase day I got a good overview of what is going on and what will soon be out on the market, and I have met interesting people that I hopefully can collaborate with in the future. All my expectations have been met.”

Industry advice and thoughts on growing censorship

In the industry sessions, delegates were given concrete advice on what to do and what to avoid when seeking international distribution, and got updates on funds such as CNC, BFI, Eurimage, and Nordisk Film & TV Fond (NFTVF).

In her session on Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic, the awarded film’s producer Linda Mutawi shared valuable insight in handling challenges and cultural clashes in international co-productions. A lively discussion on the currently growing censorship and control of media in the Western world followed:

“It’s absurd and scary at the same time. For many of us who worked on the film and who have a Middle Eastern background, it was a difficult journey, and difficult to feel that not only have we left this behind in some of our countries, but now we feel it also in the new places where we live. It is creeping closer and closer.”

At FFA, 44 projects were showcased and 8 rewarded

During quite a long pitch day, delegates could enjoy six sessions: Series: Focus on Finland, Fiction in Progress, Nordic Selection, Fiction in Development, Documentaries, and F-Weird.

The Finnish showcase was strongly dominated by thrillers and other action, while many feature films in progress touched on historical themes. The Nordic Selection ranged from comedic horror and sci-fi to psychological dramas and a family documentary. The documentary session presented themes of identity, family, radicalism, women’s rights, and nature, while horror and comedy were once again strongly present in the Fiction in Development session.

All awards delivered at the event went to Finnish filmmakers.

The Best Fiction Project award (€3,000 by the Finnish Film Foundation) was given to director Alli Haapasalo’s historical feature film Tell Everyone (Kerro kaikille), which follows a young woman’s story on a remote island sanatorium. The jury awarded the film for “its sense of purpose, sensitivity, and a clear sense of the film’s potential as both an artistic achievement and as a project with international appeal”. Tell Everyone is written by Katja Kallio and produced for Helsinki-filmi, and has been supported by NFTVF.

The Best Nordic Project (€ 3,000 by Konstsamfundet) went to the Finnish director Pekka Ollula’s horror comedy film Pigtown (Sikatila), produced by Oohlala Pictures and GötaFilm. The jury awarded the project for its outstanding pitch and for the potential of a European co-production.

Hanna Nordenswan’s documentary Sense and Sensibility was awarded the Best Documentary Project (€3,000 by City of Helsinki) for its “deeply human yet extraordinary theme”. Sense and Sensibility explores a mother-daughter relationship through their work at a cemetery. The documentary is produced for Zone2 Pictures.

The F-Weird category, which introduces unconventional concepts from around the world, was also present this year, bringing forth entertaining pitches in bathrobes, and filming on stage. This year, the Best F-Weird Project went to Milla Puolakanaho and Juha Ilmari Laine’s animated short film documentary Boobs (Tissit). The jury awarded the project for its way of bringing a personal story to the screen through a beautiful animation of an often-objectified part of the body.

This year three new awards were introduced. The MIDPOINT Consulting Award went to writer-director Aino Suni and producer Emilia Haukka’s upcoming drama series Abyss (Rotko).Julia Elomäki was awarded the Connecting Cottbus Producers Exchange, while director Khadar Ahmed won market accreditations at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market and TV Drama Vision 2026 for his feature film Thundering Smoke.

Finnish Film Affair has been supported by NFTVF.

All projects presented on the Showcase day: CLICK HERE.