The first joint export venture for key players in the Finnish audiovisual industry aims to strengthen the promotion of Finnish content on the international level

Focus on Finland is the first joint export venture for key players in the Finnish audiovisual industry. The project’s aim is to strengthen the promotion of Finnish content at international industry events and to increase the opportunities for Finnish content creators to get international funding, sales and distribution. Focus on Finland promotes the visibility and international awareness of Finnish content by having a presence at panel discussions and keynote addresses during international industry events, as well as by organising showcases, and by creating opportunities to pitch projects and to network.

For the documentary-focused scheme, the partners joining Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI are Yle, the Finnish Film Foundation and AVEK. This joint venture focusing on promotional events is unique in the history of the Finnish audiovisual industry. In a joint statement, the Focus on Finland Documentary partners underlined: “We are so proud that, for the very first time, the key players in the AV industry have joined forces on this Focus on Finland internationalisation venture, and we are already excited to see how well this collaboration has been working. We are happy to see its results. We will also continue this initiative in 2023. The current Finnish documentary film offering is courageous and distinctive, and challenges the viewer to see the world from a different angle.”

During 2022, Focus on Finland Docs attended Cannes Docs and Sunny Side of the Doc. During the upcoming Finnish Film Affair (see the news), Focus on Finland is organising an event on the island of Lonna, just a short boat ride away from Helsinki on the mainland, where some upcoming and fresh documentaries will be presented. The event is taking place on 21 September, and international guests, including festivals, sales agents, buyers, distributors and media representatives, will be attending in collaboration with the Finnish Film Affair.

Among the documentaries being presented are Once Upon a Time in a Forest, the latest non-fiction effort by renowned filmmaker Virpi Suutari, which will be showcased as a work in progress and is being produced by Euphoria Film. In addition, the selection includes the European Film Award-shortlisted documentary Karaoke Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Einari Paakkanen
film profile] by Einari Paakkanen, produced by Napafilms, along with Lynx Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juha Suonpää
film profile] by Juha Suonpää, staged by Wacky Tie, and The Last Seagull, produced by Making Movies.