10/01/2011

Last year was a record year for Finland. Not since data collection for cinema attendance were introduced in 1969 had local films surpassed two million admissions and registered a 27% market share. The 2,072,237domestic admissions in 2010 were more than double the previous year’s figures.

Two Finnish films were the biggest selling titles of the year: the comedy Lapland Odyssey [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (335,000 admissions) by Dome Karukoski and the children’s film Ricky Rapper and the Bicycle Thief (328,000 admissions) by Mari Rantasila.

Princess, the feature film debut of documentary filmmaker Arto Halonen, was seventh on the 2010 Top Ten with 279,000 admissions while Kari Väänänen’s Backwood Philosopher came in at number nine (217,000 admissions).

All films benefitted from last year’s upturn in cinema attendance. Total admissions reached 7.7 million, twice the level of 2009, a result not seen since 2003. US blockbuster Sex and the City 2 was the third biggest film of the year, followed by Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Among the reasons behind the success of local titles were the large variety and number of films released, 23, which is four more than in 2009, according to the Finnish Film Foundation (FFF), and the high number of documentaries (nine). “It feels fantastic that the audience has wanted to see such a diversity of domestic films,” said Petri Kemppinen, Head of Production at the FFF. “We are also thankful for our increased funding, which has made it possible to finance more films, with larger amounts, and also distribute films digitally.”

Today, 30% of Finnish screens are digital. The digitization process has improved access to new films in smaller cities that can benefit from nationwide publicity and marketing.