Arto Halonen's documentary When Heroes Lie featuring the doping scandal of the 2001 World Ski Championship in Lahti, will screen as a world premiere. Other high-profile Finnish films include Antti Jokinen's Purge and Jukka Kärkkäinen and J-P Passi's multi-awarded documentary The Punk Syndrome. Projects introduced as Works in Progress comprise Aku Louhimies' Never Forever produced by Blind Spot Productions, Juha Wuolijoki's English language Zarra's Law and documentary veteran Pirjo Honkasalo's fiction debut The Concrete Night produced by Bufo Oy. Industry panels will focus on Finnish Film Sales and relationships with Asia.
"The Finnish Film Affair is an extension of the existing Finnish Film Week which screens all the latest Finnish films to local audiences and industry people," explains Sanna Kulyanen, project supervisor. "We already have festivals focusing on documentary films (Docpoint) and short films (Tampere) but we realized that there is a clear need for an industry event focusing on feature films."
"Sales agent Miira Paasilinna (The Yellow Affair) added: "I'm glad that the image of Finnish films seems to be changing thanks to several successful comedies and animation features. Finnish producers are professional and easy to work with, which is crucial for international sales."
Finnish Film Affair is organised by HIFF in collaboration with FAVEX, the Finnish Film Foundation, the Central Organization of Finnish Film Producers, Finland Film Commission with the support of the Nordic Culture Fund and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This year's 25th HIFF - Love & Anarchy (September 20-30) will screen over 180 feature films including the five films nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council Film Prize (to be announced on September 4).