Siiri Halko who collaborated on the short film series Zone B with Juho Kuosmanen and Where to Land’s Sawandi Groskind have been selected for the ‘Kehittämö’ programme.

The new ‘Kehittämö’ Talent Development lab backed by AVEK (the Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture) and the Finnish Cultural Foundation, has just inaugurated its ground-breaking training scheme March 17, with five promising new filmmaking voices: Rabbe Sandström, Katri Myllyniemi who are both working on documentary films, and Siiri Halko, Elisa Kujala and Sawandi Groskind, selected with their debut fiction works.

Under the Kehittämö scheme - the first of its kind in Finland - set up to strengthen the personal voices of promising filmmakers, each project will receive €55,000 in development, plus an invite to a six month intensive training lab.

As announced earlier - see our story - Finland gets first development scheme for new filmmakers - the five mentors offering their support during this programme include script guru Karol Griffiths who worked with the Coen brothers, script consultants Franz Rodenkirchen (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki) and Françoise von Roy (Compartment No6), producer Madeleine Ekman (The Here After), documentary expert Gitte Hansen and producer/trainer Grant Keir (From Scotland With Love).

Ulla Simonen, AVEK director said more experts will be provided from other fields of expertise if needed.

”As a former producer, I know that this is a project that has been much needed in Finland,” she said. “In the past, Finnish filmmakers had to go on paid international development programmes. Now we can finally offer a similar service in Finland – and with the added bonus that the projects selected for the programme receive financial support for their development in addition to mentoring.”

Through the Kehittämö programme, Finnish filmmakers will receive almost one million euros in additional funding over a period of four years.

The five selected projects were selected based on the directors’ earlier works, their motivation, and the director-writer-producer team.

The five projects selected are the following:

  • Kuinka Kuolemme by Rabbe Sandström.
    The film explores end of life care and the experiences of volunteers, training for it.
    Sandström has been working for around 10 years as an editor and studied documentary filmmaking at BFM Tallinn University.
  • Untitled project by Katri Myllyniemi.
    Documentary about cows living on ultra-modern dairy farms and the machinery that monitors their happiness and efficiency.
    Myllyniemi has studied screenwriting and directing at ELO Film School. She worked as line producer on Hannaleena Hauru’s Thick Lashes of Lauri Mäntivaara and production manager on Selma Vilhunen’s Little Wings.
  • Kaivo by Siiri Halko
    Absurd drama about Emmi (21) whose role as a responsible helper and foster sister is threatened when the biological parents of Iida who was placed in a family as a child-suddenly show up in their daughter’s life.
    Halko is a graduate from ELO film school. She took part in the short film series Zone B with Juho Kuosmanen, Khadar Ayderus Ahmed (The Gravedigger’s Wife), produced by Aamu Film Company for Yle. Her first feature is being produced by the new company Silmu Films, co-owned by producer Jenni Jauri and Aamu Film Company.
  • Elektra by Elisa Kujala
    Film about the prejudices in the gaming world and one woman’s struggle for a more equal future.
    Kujala studied film directing at London Film School and ELO Film School. Her short film The Itch (2016) travelled to several festivals.
  • Skarpnabba by Sawandi Griskind
    The film spans over half a century between memory and history. Starting with Werner in the 60s Ostrobothnia and continuing with Ada in present-day Helsinki. It explores the older rural and the newer urban landscapes of Finland through numerous natural, historical and cultural references.
    Griskind was born in Tennessee and is living in Helsinki. His short film Where to Land screened at a dozen international festivals and won the main prize (under 30mn) in Tampere, the Uusi Aalto Award in Helsinki and the Deframed Award in Hamburg.

For further information, check: www.kopiosto.fi/avek