The Oscar-nominated Finnish director Vilhunen and producer Hellstedt will bring to Dionysos their new feature project based on the novel ‘Defiance’ by Tommi Kinnunen.

The Nordic audio-visual industry is battling economic headwinds, but talents abound and solidarity prevails as shown in the latest turn of events in Finland.

Tuffi Films, one of the country’s most prolific production outfits, set up in 2010 by a group of talented female creators of daring films and documentaries, including Vilhunen (Do I have to Take Care of Everything, Little Wing, Hobbyhorse Revolution) has been struggling financially in the aftermath of Covid-19 and was forced to undergo a debt restructuring programme in the spring, according to co-owner Hellstedt. “We couldn’t produce anymore and had to look at different ways to continue our work. This is how Selma and I started discussions with Dionysos Films. Joining the company has been a brilliant outcome for us,” Hellstedt told us.

Another female-led production outfit, founded in 2008 by the forceful producer Riina Hyytiä and writer/director Johanna Vuoksenmaa, the audience-driven Dionysos has delivered major local and international film and TV hits in the last decade. Those include Vuoksenmaa’s 21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage, the 2019 Nordic Council Film Prize nominee Aurora, the multi-season crime drama Deadwind, cult youth series Nerd: Dragonslayer 666 and comedy Hormones! which aired on Yle this fall. Hyytiä and Vuolsenmaa were later joined at Dionysos Films by producers Leena Mäenpää-Bentley and Nora Kuusisto.

“Dionysos Films has done ground-breaking work for a long time, produced significant works and reached impressive audience numbers over the years. It is marvellous to get to work together and to see what kind of stories we can produce together,” Hellstedt said.

For her part Hyytiä said she is “delighted that Venla and Selma are joining our community! We have visited each other’s companies over the years and discovered that we share similar values and ambitions.”

Discussing the challenging times for film & TV production, Hyytiä added: “Our industry is facing huge changes and the outlook is not very clear. Consequently, we have a choice of either start turning the lights off, minimising activities, or invest in the future to make sure that the light will shine even brighter in the future. We chose the latter!”, said Dionysos’ CEO.

Vilhunen who received an Oscar nomination in 2014 for her live action short film Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? and a Crystal Bear in Berlin 2019 for Stupid Young Heart, says she is looking forward to bringing her next feature project based on Tommi Kinnunen’s novel ‘Defiance’ to Dionysos. “It is a fierce story about five women who escape on foot through the Lappish wilderness in post WW2 devastation. This film will be in many ways the most challenging project that I have worked on, and this is why I am excited that I am able to continue working on it in a company such as Dionysos Films who are so experienced and knowledgeable,” she stated. Filming is set to start in the spring 2025.

For the moment, Vilhunen’s long-awaited drama Four Little Adults (SEE TRAILER) for which Alma Pöysti won a best acting award at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival, is due to hit Finnish screens December 27 via Aurora Studios.

As for Dionysos, the company’s next feature - Scammers by Rike Jokela is also ready for its Christmas launch December 26.

“These two films are such a perfect prelude to our commencing collaboration!” Hyytiä said.