The two films were among 27 feature films and documentaries pitched yesterday at the 9th hybrid Finnish Film Affair industry event in Helsinki.

In a year where genre films and psycho thrillers were out in force, The Twin’s director Taneli Mustonen and producer Aleksi Hyvärinen (Don Films) took home the Best Fiction Project Award and its €3,000 cash prize to be earmarked towards the film’s international marketing, orchestrated by sales agent Film Constellation. 

The duo behind the 2017 Nordic Genre Boost entry Lake Bodom said the elevated Scandi horror film, shot mostly in the English language, is currently shooting, with a delivery set for late 2021. 

Meanwhile promising talent Tania Moilanen was handed out the first €3,000 Best Documentary Pitch Award for her project The Mission, produced by Danish Bear Productions. The film follows the inner-lives of four young Mormon missionaries as they come to Finland to try to convert people. The release is set for 2022. 

After yesterday’s industry sessions dedicated to film distribution in the Nordics, Finnish Film Affair continues today with a full day of screenings and quality film pitching.

Commenting on the hybrid Finnish Film Affair, director Maria Pirkkalainen said: "We have received a lot of fantastic feedback from both yesterday's panels and today's showcase, and it has really been incredibly heart-warming. A massive thank you goes to my Finnish Film Affair team that has worked tirelessly to make this hybrid event a reality. We're really looking forward to exploring new ways to continue this year's distribution focus and shining the spotlight on upcoming Nordic talent in the coming years."

Documentaries -  Works In Progress Pitches

  • Eatnameamet-Our land our future (Vaski Filmi)
    Directed by Suvi West (Me and My Little Sister).
    Political pamphlet portraying the indigenous Sámi people fighting for their rights. 
    Premiere early 2021. 
  • Guardians of Creation (Guerilla Films)
    Directed by Liris Härmä (Who Made You?).
    Set in Turkana, Kenya, known as the cradle of humankind. A scientist sets up a research to explore the relationship between humans and nature, only to realise that the tribe she is following is responsible for the extinction of wild animals. 
    Premiere in 2021. 
  • Snowball Effect (Ida Productions)
    Directed by Lapland-born Pauliina Punkki. 
    Story about local politics gone wrong in a small municipality in Finnish Lapland. “We explore absurd humans, in a “Twin Peaks meet Roy Andersson style”, said the director. 
    Delivery 2022. 
  • The Black Gold (Citizen Jane Productions)
    Film directed by underwater/wildlife specialist Petteri Saario. 
    A major ecological disaster threatens the Gulf of Finland, with 27 oil tankers crossing the area every day. The film shows how an eco disaster caused by oil, would proceed minute by minute, day by day, in the vulnerable nature of the North.
    Delivery in 2022.
  • The Last of the Seagulls (Making Movies)
    New film by acclaimed director Tonislav Hristov (The Magic Life of V). 
    Bulgarian Ivan (58) is a seagull, or male escort, used to chasing wealthy foreign ladies at Sunny Beach resort on the Black Sea…until Covid-19 came along.
    Producer Kaarle Aho said the film is both a charming and semi-comical portrait of Ivar and a look at the political and social situation in South East Europe and the Balkans.
    Delivery late 2021/early 2022. 
  • The Mission (Danish Bear Productions)
    First feature documentary by promising director Tania Moilanen.  
    Portrait of four young Mormon missionaries as they leave their homes to try to convert people in Finland. “It’s the first time Mormons have allowed a non-Mormon film crew to film them,” said the director who stresses she doesn’t seek to criticise or judge the young Mormons but “rather offer a space to go into their psychological change”. The film also looks at the inner-workings of the Church’s machinery.  So far the film has received backing from the Finnish Film Foundation, Arte/WDR. 
    Premiere in 2022. 
  • Trans Syrian Express (Illume)
    Directed by Alina Rudnitskaya.
    Putin’s regime promotes its military power through the ‘Syrian breakthrough’ train exhibition crossing the country, but how are ordinary people connecting their lives through the tracks of the train?
    Premiere late 2021.  
  • We Are Animals (Tuffi Films)
    Directed by Vesa Kuosmanen and Saila Kivelä. 
    The film follows animal activist and director Saila Kivelä, torn between democratic means and activist actions to make changes.
    Premiere fall 2021

Fiction - Works in Progress  Pitches

  • 70 is Just a Number (Dionysos Films)
    Directed by Johanna Vuoksenmaa (21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage). 
    Third part of the director’s relationship trilogy, focusing on a 70+ woman, Seija, who falls for a younger man. 
    Premiere December 2020 (Nordisk Film).
  • A Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (It's Alive Films)
    Directed by Teemu Nikki (Euthanizer)
    Love story and road trip following Jaakko, a blind man, paralysed to his chest, who sets on an adventure to meet his loved one. The project won the Eurimages Lab Project Award in Haugesund.
    Premiere September 2021. Intramovies handles sales.  
  • A Girl’s Room (MADE)
    Feature debut by promising talent Aino Suni who won the Eurimages Co-production Development Award for the film at Baltic Event. 
    Psycho drama about a toxic relationship between a young Finnish aspiring rapper and her French step sister.
    Premiere in May 2021 (B-Plan). Kinology handles sales.
  • Knocking (Läsk, Sweden)
    Directed by Frida Kempff (Winter Buoy)
    Psycho-thriller about a woman who tries to find out the truth behind the noise in an upstairs flat. No one believes her because of her previous mental problems.  Producer Erik Andersson said the film is targeting the fans of Let the Right One In. 
    Premiere early 2021. Sales: Bankside.  
  • Ninja Baby (Motlys)
    Directed by Yngvid Sve Flikke (Women in Oversized Men’s Shirts).
    Rachel (20) becomes pregnant after a one-night stand. Suddenly an animated version of her unborn foetus shows up, asking her unpleasant questions and absurd whims. 
    Premiere February 2021. Sales: TrustNordisk  
  • Quake (Ursus Parvus, Iceland) Directed by Tinna Hrafnsdóttir. 
    Tense thriller about a single mother who, following a fierce epileptic attack, suffers from memory losses. She decides to hide the severity of her physical problems, out of fear that her son will be taken away from her.  Starring Anita Briem (The Minister).
    Premiere early 2021.  
  • Superposition (Beo Starling, Denmark)
    Directed by Karoline Lyngbye. 
    Quantum psycho thriller about a young couple who move to the countryside with their son, looking for an authentic, stress-free life. But the paradise soon turns into a nightmare.  Starring Mikkel Følsgaard (The Rain) and Amanda Collin (Raised by Wolves). 
    Premiere May 2022.  
  • Sihja (Tuffi Films)
    First children’s film by established director Marja Pyykkö (Paradise, Black Widows)
    Live action fantasy/mystery film for 6-11 years old and their family. About the little fairy-Sihja, her friendship with the lonely human boy Alfred (11) as they try to prevent an environmental disaster. “It’s a warm and funny film about having the courage to be yourself,” said Pyykkö. 
    Premiere in January 2021. Sales: Dutch Features.  
  • Stand Up (Zodiak Finland)
    By Reetta Aalto, one of the directors of Force of Habit. 
    Looking for a new direction in her life, Maria (35), enrols in a stand-up comedy contest. 
    Premiere early 2021. 
  • The Twin (Don Films)
    Directed by Taneli Mustonen (Lake Bodom). 
    In the aftermath of a tragic accident, Rachel and her husband Anthony move to the countryside with the surviving twin Elliot. But dark forces claiming to be his dead twin take over Elliott.
    Premiere late 2021. Sales: Film Constellation.

To read about the Pitches of Projects in Development, CLICK HERE.