Helsinki International Film Festival: Love, Anarchy and… Weirdness.

Finnish Film Affair (FFA), the very lively annual industry event at the Helsinki International Film Festival, aka Love & Anarchy, will celebrate its 13th edition September 25-27. The sprightly teenager will as usual be offering “a daring, fresh, and delightfully extravagant showcase of Finnish and Nordic film” to attending film professionals from near and far, diving headfirst into sessions, workshops, business opportunities and networking.

But just when you thought it was safe…there’s something else out there, something decidedly weird. Under the moniker “Finnish Weird”, a brand new pitching session sees the light of day. We got hold of Alisha Hasan, the freshly appointed new Head of Industry at the FFA, who doesn’t really ask “Why?” but rather “Why not?”, in order to hear more.

Let’s start with the word “weird” – it certainly draws up a number of connotations. Where, more or less exactly, would you put it in this context?

Let’s put it equal to the unique and pioneering, with a dose of bravery. The film and TV industry is going through a tumultuous time, and it’s important to keep inspiring the next generation of filmmakers. Our message is that no matter what challenges the industry faces at the moment, there’s a need for you. The world will always need vision, artistic fearlessness and original ideas that even AI will find it difficult to come up with.

Also, of course, “Finnish Weird” is an expression. You hear it from tourists, from internationals who have moved to Finland, and even from locals – the lens through which we see the world is, frankly, weird. I mean, who else embraces salmiakki with such passion? There's even a Finnish national association of salmiakki fans!

In your call for application you invite “emerging directors, producers, scriptwriters, and game developers” to submit their wildest ideas; extravagant thoughts are also celebrated. Can you elaborate on what those could be?

We want to highlight formats which receive less focus at other markets and festivals, because we believe they have tremendous potential. These are short form, unscripted and transmedia. Our aim is to be surprised by what the younger generation comes up with, and we also want to learn more about how and what they watch and how they see the world. This might even give us insight into what our industry's future will be like.

Both Finnish Film Affair and Finnish Weird aim to be an experimental melting pot of film and gaming, and we want to create a safe space for the weirdest ideas in the world. It is not easy being a creative individual, and it is not easy talking about those unpitched script ideas piling up in the top drawer of your desk.

You opened for application last week, August 6, and the deadline is August 25. How has the interest been so far – any spontaneous or immediate reactions?

During the first twelve hours, we already received a dozen applications! So far there’s been a steady stream, and we anticipate acceleration in submissions the closer we get to the deadline. The furthest country from which we have had an application so far is Brazil. According to the information gathered, the applicant had seen the open call in the local industry news. We are trying to locate this, just out of interest!

Your call for projects reads “We welcome eeeeeverything”. What are the rules for applicants, if any?

The applicant has to have a maximum of two professional credits, which is less common than one would think. Otherwise everyone across all country borders is welcome to apply, which is quite unique in itself, and much less common than one would think! Our long-term plan is for Finnish Film Affair to be increasingly connected to industry creators globally.

You came on board as FFA Head of Industry this spring, in April 2024. What’s your background before this?

I have a background in film, TV, advertising and gaming, and throughout my career I’ve actively immersed myself in marketing. In addition to my bachelor's degree in film and TV production at Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University, I have a master's in international business and politics from Queen Mary, University of London. Since the beginning of my career, I’ve been extremely interested in international business, global networking, branding, marketing, leadership and changing the world. Of course film-making too, and especially layers in audiovisual storytelling, a topic that we will be immersed in at this year's FFA. The world needs more unity and collaboration – and profitable peace. I’ve been a mentor at the Queen Mary University of London, School of Business and Management for six years, and I enjoy inspiring others.

In a way, the reason for this kind of internationally minded initiatives we will have at the Finnish Film Affair largely stem from my personal experiences. I consider myself an international Finn who has lived abroad for most of her life and moved around since the age of one. My worldview is very open, and extending this pitching session globally was a decision that came about very naturally. In fact, the entire FFA team is a refreshingly international group of production professionals, and the decision to go global felt like a warm hug to the world. From the point of view of smaller countries, it is perhaps challenging to dream big and be fully open to international business and the opportunities it brings. At the beginning of my career, 16 years ago, this way of thinking was incomprehensible to me, and I actually left Finland twice because I was so frustrated by it. This time, I intend to stay and be the change I wanted to see back then. As a person, I ask "why not" instead of "why".

Finally, why Finnish Weird, you think? Why not, say, Danish Weird? Or Norwegian or Icelandic or Swedish Weird?

Even if Finland is part of the Nordics, we have a distinct culture and habits. We are proud of the weirdness that we as Finns are known for! The strong liquorice, baby boxes, monosyllabic communication, our inability to do branding or marketing as well as the Swedes... Obviously we wanted to quickly launch Finnish Weird before Swedes launch something similar. Finally we are the first at something, to claim weirdness!

As already stated, the term 'Finnish Weird' already has a history in our country, not least in the literary field – it signals a genre which mixes fantasy and reality. I believe that precisely this mixture, making reality fantastic in a very weird way, belongs not only to books, but has expanded to a certain je ne sais quoi that we recognise in Finnish cultural productions: a set of particularities that make Finnish cultural products very much unique. Finnish films that make it to an international audience are praised for not following a traditional curve, they're peculiar in their humour and their premises – where else are you seeing Kaurismäki's ways if not in Finland? The up-and-coming talent who pitches every year in our Showcase Day only confirms that this weirdness is very much alive.

That being said, this weirdness does not belong only to us: you do not need to be Finnish to be Finnish Weird – and now that you ask, we invite our Nordic neighbours to pitch in on that, and even surpass it! When we had the idea for this new pitching session, we were absolutely sure that worldwide there are creative talents who in their projects are already embracing odd ways of seeing the world.

The Helsinki International Film Festival 2024 runs September 19-29, with Finnish Film Affair taking place September 25-27. The application call for Finnish Weird runs until August 25. On September 25, twenty selected projects will be asked to give a two-minute pitch at the special FFA Finnish Weird event.

To the application call: CLICK HERE.