A handful of upcoming Finnish talents and projects stood out from the 16 pitches at  Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, held November 26-30 parallel to the Black Nights Film Festival in the Estonian capital.

  • Aino Suni (33), a Berlinale Talent alumna, multi-awarded for her short filmsTurnaround and Wolf Carver, won the coveted €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award for her project A Girl’s Room, produced by Finland’s MADE and France’s Adastra Films.

    The project tells of an aspiring rapper Elinka (15) who leaves Helsinki to South of France when her mother finds French boyfriend. Elina is drawn to her step-sister Chloe who leads a double life with boys and drugs. Their friendship soon turns into a power game with toxic consequences. The jury said they noted the strong collaboration between the Finnish and French team since the project’s inception and furthermore felt this exciting project has the potential to reach international audiences.”  
  • Hamy Ramezan (39), top short filmmaker with 30 awards under his belt, was awarded the Screen International Best Pitch Award for his debut feature projectThe Oasis of Now, produced by Aamu Film Company (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki). Ramezan was awarded for his “engaging and original project that subverts the stereotype of the familiar refugee story. Through this unique perspective, the film will give us back the true meaning of human warmth, friendships and family in today’s world”, said the jury. 
  • Miia Tervo (38), EFA nominated with her short film The Little Snow Animal, was awarded the €2,000 Baltic View Award for her feature debut project Aurora produced by Dionysos Film. The warm and humorous love relationship between an Iranian asylum seeker and a party animal girl in Finnish Lapland, had already received positive feedback from previous pitches at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films and Helsinki’s Finnish Film Affair.  
  • J-P Valkeapää (41), multi-awarded for his feature films The Visitor and They Have Escaped, was awarded the Baltic Event Works in Progress Award for his project Dogs Don’t Wear Pants, produced by Helsinki-filmi and Latvia’s Tasse Film. The project is a dark humorous story of loss, love, and the sweet pain of being. Juha has lost his wife in a drowning accident. Years later, he still feels numb, unable to connect. He meets Mona, a dominatrix and everything changes.   

Other awards were handed out to the following directors:

  • Norway’s Arild Ømmundsen (Monster Thursday, Now It’s Dark) won the €2,000 Baltic Event View for her project Sisters, produced by Chezville. The family drama tells of a family tracking trips that end badly when the father falls into a mountain crack.

    His young daughters set off on a mission to find help from other grown-ups. Unable to do so, they return to the crack and try to save their dad on their own.  
  • Israel’s Evgeny Ruman won the €10,000 Post Control Award for his project Golden Voices -Romania’s Radu Romaniuc won the €5,000 Global Screen Award for Man of Deeds. 
    More than 400 international guests attended the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event 2018.