Arctic Divers

Arctic Divers follows young scientific divers researching climate change in extreme conditions during a two-week ice diving camp in Kilpisjärvi, Finnish Lapland. Strangers must build absolute trust to survive beneath the ice and qualify for an Antarctic expedition. Living off-grid without electricity, they overcome personal hurdles guided by first-timer Anni and veteran Pata Degerman.

It’s an intense story of community, personal growth, and surviving the breathtaking reality under the ice. The series targets 20-30-year-olds through personal, relatable journeys. This fast-paced, 7-part documentary (7×15 min) uses a diary-style approach with selfies and button-mic audio, while real-time biometric data (sleep, heart rate, oxygen levels) and environmental stats (temperature, ice depth) amplify the tension.

Tango Metal

Paula, a grieving Finnish crime reporter and tango enthusiast, teams up with an Icelandic cop-slash-metalhead Bjarki to solve a ritualistic murder in Reykjavik – the victim is Paula’s estranged brother. Music and mayhem draw them very close to each other – until the killer is after them…

The Tradwife Theory

After suffering a burnout during her final exams, 18-year-old Peppi decides she’s done being the bosslady of her own life. Instead, she sets out to become a tradwife to Benjamin, 22, the young leader of a Christian revival movement, who promises to provide for her and take care of all her worries. For the first time, Peppi feels like she’s found a shortcut to happiness.

But the easier life Peppi was promised turns out to come with a growing list of rules. Acceptance in House of Light has a price, and the love, belonging and security she has found are conditional on obedience.

To make matters worse, Peppi’s first love returns. Ramesh, 19, a rebellious free spirit from her past, reawakens feelings she thought she had left behind. As Benjamin’s jealousy grows and the community tightens its grip, Peppi must decide whether she is willing to sacrifice her independence for certainty, or risk losing everything in order to be herself.

A sharp, funny and emotionally honest coming-of-age drama, The Tradwife Theory explores the growing pressures facing young women today. As Peppi searches for a place where she finally feels enough, she is forced to confront a question many of us spend our lives avoiding: whose approval are we really living for?

Body In The Closet

Body in the Closet is a dark comedy-thriller about Betty, a timid 36-year-old theatre prop master who accidentally becomes a killer while trying to please everyone around her, especially her narcissistic mother Lilian.

When Betty accidentally kills a co-worker with a chainsaw during a weekend at Lilian’s summer house, her first instinct is to call the police. But Lilian convinces her to cover up the death instead, making Betty complicit in a crime she never intended to commit.

As the investigation intensifies, Betty becomes trapped in an absurd web of lies. She is haunted by the ghost of her dead colleague, pursued by a lovestruck detective, and forced to watch as Lilian takes over her workplace with an autobiographical play that rewrites their family history.

The deeper Betty sinks into the cover-up, the more she starts to resemble the person she never wanted to become: her mother.

What begins as an accidental death spirals into a macabre struggle for freedom, forcing Betty to confront a devastating question: which prison is worse—a real one, or a life spent under her mother’s control?

The Crimes of Others

The Crimes of Others is an eight-part contemporary drama series about crime and punishment — about the administration of justice as seen through the eyes of a young lawyer.

Anni Järvi (27) is a newly qualified lawyer who starts working at a Helsinki law firm specialising in criminal cases. Episode by episode, Anni defends increasingly difficult clients and faces morally challenging turning points in their lives. Each case forces Anni to weigh how, as a defence lawyer, she can truly help another person. How do you do your best even when the client seems guilty, repulsive, or the case appears hopeless?

Her collaboration with Mikko, a criminal investigator, leads to a friendship that turns into a forbidden love affair. Anni grows from a beginner into a defence lawyer who understands that justice can only emerge when the entire machinery of the district court holds together. Freedom, justice and trust belong together. To all of us.

Checkmate

A man who was abused in childhood challenges a top profiler to a chess match, where the pieces are real people. The main purpose is to take revenge on the people close to him, his older brother and his friends, who ruined his life.

The police discover a body covered in a layer of white paint, with a chess piece extracted from its throat. Milo Perho, an art gallerist and profiler of serial killers, is called in to help.

The Blueprint of a Crime

When the son of a Korean shipping magnate goes missing in Lapland’s frozen wilderness, two unlikely detectives must team up: Markus Louhi, a burnt-out Helsinki cop estranged from his daughter, and Nari Jung, a Seoul detective haunted by her child’s death.

Their search uncovers a web of corporate murder and fraud involving groundbreaking maritime technology that threatens to topple global shipping empires. But the massive conspiracy is just the beginning—as Arctic conditions strip away all pretenses, both detectives must confront their darkest secrets to survive.

A gripping international crime series combining Nordic noir atmosphere with high-stakes corporate espionage. Two broken detectives, one deadly conspiracy, and the unforgiving Arctic wilderness where survival depends on confronting the truth.

The Blueprint of a Crime is a unique fusion of Nordic and Korean crime storytelling – where personal redemption meets global conspiracy in a visually stunning yet deadly landscape.

Arrowhead

Sara Laurent, an elite bodyguard, is protecting the daughter of a wealthy Jordanian family on the French Riviera. Her world shatters when an ambush in Saint Tropez leaves her whole team dead. Suspecting her employer, the powerful Arrowhead corporation, Sara begins to uncover a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels. Fearing for her safety, Sara flees to Finland to reconnect with her estranged father. There, she is also confronted by a mercenary called Samuli, her former lover. With her past and present colliding, she aims to uncover the truth, seek justice for her fallen colleagues, and expose the conspiracy by gathering evidence against Arrowhead’s CEO, Stefan Brost. All the while investigating her mother’s mysterious death and uncovering a past she didn’t know. When Stefan learns of Sara’s intentions, he sends a crew of ruthless hitmen after her in the Finnish wilderness. As she battles to survive with the help of her father, sister, and a recluse ex-combat diver Jarno, high-tech weapons clash with ancient resolve, forcing Sara to confront her past, expose Arrowhead’s dark secrets, and choose between love and duty in a world where violence is a business.

Octopus

Isla (19), drowning in debt, receives an invite to an app called Octopus. It looks like a game offering big money for small real-life tasks. Isla and her best friend Brita (19) try it out—the first task: steal a purple dildo. It feels like a prank, not a crime, and when Isla’s debt drops by a thousand euros, it seems too good to be true.

More tasks follow. Isla’s coworker Serafia (19) and Serafia’s friend Linni (17) join in. The jobs get harder, but so do the payouts. What starts as petty crimes becomes a thrilling lifestyle—luxury, parties, and adrenaline. The app gives them purpose, danger, and control.

But soon, the tasks escalate. The crimes grow serious. The media catches on. Fear creeps in. Tension brews within the group. Trust erodes. What if someone flips?

Then comes another task: stab a stranger at Helsinki Central Station. The girls hit a wall. No one wants to do it, but Isla is told she’ll be eliminated by another user if she refuses.

Now, they must choose: back out and risk their lives, or do the unthinkable to survive. Octopus has taken over. They’re no longer in control.

The Truth Seeker

The Truth Seeker is a powerful drama series based on true events, centered on forensic odontologist Helena Ranta — a woman feared by the world’s dictators.

In 1996, Ranta, 48, is recently divorced, in the midst of an identity crisis and the owner of a new, fast sports car. When she’s asked to travel to the former Yugoslavia to uncover war atrocities as the leader of an international victim identification team, she packs her bags without hesitation. Impatient and uncompromising, Ranta often takes matters into her own hands, breaks the rules, and carries out espionage missions for human rights organizations. She tries to stay neutral in her pursuit of truth – a mission that’s nearly impossible in a world demanding allegiance.

As snipers, car bombs, and political pressure become part of her daily reality, Ranta comes to realize that truth is a weapon — and defending it is deadly dangerous.

Helsinki International Film Festival –
Rakkautta & Anarkiaa ry
Bulevardi 5 A 12
00120 Helsinki, Finland

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