Finnish Film Affair Unveils 45 Promising Projects from the Nordics and Beyond

The international selection committee, consisting of the new Head of Industry Lydia Taylerson, alongside international experts Angeliki Petrou (Thessaloniki International Film Festival) and Oli Harbottle (Dogwoof) on the documentary side, and Claire Willats (Two Magpies Entertainment) and Mathias Noschis (Alphapanda) for the Fiction in Development and Progress series, made the decisions from open submissions. 

“The project selections this year were really tough, simply because there were so many strong candidates with compelling perspectives and bold stories. In fact, our Fiction in Development and Documentary open calls both received almost twice as many projects compared to last year, which goes to show the desirability and necessity for an industry event such as ours”, noted Taylerson. 

In our Fiction in Progress series we present six Finnish projects further along in their production, from six notable filmmakers: Antti J. Jokinen, Alli Haapasalo, Aleksi Salmenperä, Dome Karukoski, Selma Vilhunen, and Aku Louhimies.

Meanwhile, the Fiction in Development selection showcases nine Finnish projects in earlier development stages, of which many are already international co-productions. The series presents a new project from Lauri-Matti Parppei, whose latest feature A Light That Never Goes Out premiered in the ACID competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Anna Blom, AJ Annila, Anssi Kömi, Ninni Saajola, and Mara Tamkovich, will be presenting their projects, alongside recent FFA pitchers Suvi West (Homecoming, 2021), Niklas Lindgren (Bad Women, 2021), Aino Suni (Heartbeast, 2020), and Khadar Ahmed, director of the 2021 Finnish Gala of HIFF – Love & Anarchy The Gravediggers Wife.     

FFA is also showcasing nine brand new Finnish documentary projects, both in development and production. Our documentary showcase features topical films diving into diverse themes ranging from Sápmi rap music and an animated brain, to a mother-daughter story set in a cemetery and a book club resistance. The filmmakers representing this year’s documentary projects are Shakiba Adil, Miina Alajärvi, Arezo Ariapoor, Liinu Grönlund, Elina Hirvonen, Anu Kuivalainen, Sanna Liinamaa, Jukka Metsäaho, Hanna Nordenswan, Okku Nuutilainen, Jyri Paajamaa, and Juha Suonpää.

Our Nordic Selection continues to shine the spotlight on emerging filmmakers from all five of our Nordic neighbours. From Denmark, Mads Mengel will present their drama on family dynamics, while Lars Vega from Sweden introduces their project creatively mixing scifi, drama, and comedy. Graeme Maley brings to the stage an Icelandic drama set in the theatre world, whilst representing Norway, we have Jakob H. Svensen pitching their documentary project about unresolved childhood memories. Last but not least, we have Pekka Ollula with Finland’s project, presenting a rural romantic zombie horror comedy in production.

In collaboration with Focus on Finland (Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI and The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle), we also showcase six Finnish TV series in development, from thrillers and crime dramas to teen dramas and animation. 

FFA’s fresh pitching series, F-Weird, makes a comeback to celebrate the daring side of filmmaking, crossing both genre and format borders to create a pitching series from just outside of the box. The selection presents 10 projects from Finland, Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, Germany, Greece and USA. The projects touch topics from a child-eating giant, an animated documentary about the life of boobs, a carpenter hitman, a Scandinavian sauna ghost, and a politician’s transformation into an extinct dodo. Up-and-coming talents presenting their unusual, unexplored ideas are Ali Charmi, Vilja Autiokyrö, Juha Ilmari Laine, Toni Kurkimäki, Minos Nikolakakis, Margo Nowicka, Milla Puolakanaho, Samra Šabanović, Olli Salmi, and Guillermo Vejar.