The 15th edition of the Finnish Film Affair (FFA) will take place in Helsinki from 23-25 September, bringing 38 projects with international potential from Finland, the Nordic region and beyond to the industry event’s Showcase Day on 24 September. The projects will be presented across six categories, including fiction, documentary, television and a new genre-focused strand created in collaboration with the Nordic Genre Lab.

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The selection was overseen by FFA head of Industry Lydia Taylerson, joined by international experts Katre Kajamäe-Gupta (Eurimages) and Natascha Degnova (LevelK) for fiction, while Mourad-Anis Moussa (Visions du Réel) and Erika Dilday (American Documentary) contributed to the documentary selection. Taylerson pointed to the increasingly international character of this year’s line-up, noting the significant number of co-productions among the selected projects, as well as the particularly high quality of submissions in Fiction in Development.

In the Fiction in Progress showcase, five new movies by established Finnish filmmakers will be presented, including Pamela Tola (Ladies of Steel), Naima Mohamud, Laura Hyppönen (Live East Die Young) and Kari Ketonen. Among the highlights is Aku Louhimies’ Lapland War, the eagerly anticipated wartime drama from the director of The Unknown Soldier.

The Fiction in Development section will introduce eight projects at earlier stages, including new works by established Finnish filmmaker Aleksi Delikouras, whose credits include Spede, and Swedish-Finnish director Jon Blåhed, whose Raptures premiered in the Big Screen Competition at IFFR. Norwegian filmmaker Hedda Mjøen, meanwhile, arrives with Big Deal after her award-winning fictional short Nåde, while Finnish filmmaker Jojo Erholtz brings The Weight of a Man following an internationally recognised short-film career and several Finnish TV directing credits.

The Documentary selection will present eight new projects from Finland and beyond, exploring subjects ranging from endangered forests and Estonia’s piano-making tradition to the rise and fall of a six-time Olympic medallist, and the stories of communities shaped by migration and memory.

The Nordic Selection brings together projects from across the region. Norway is represented by Emilie Beck with 11 Hours, a hostage thriller inspired by true events, while Iceland’s Vala Omarsdottir presents Just a Kid, centred on a teenager navigating her mother’s expectations and her first love. Denmark’s Nils Holst-Jensen (Where Were You?) will present Without You, a psychological drama about a mother whose life begins to unsettlingly right itself following her daughter’s disappearance. Television remains part of the Showcase Day, with six Finnish series in development presented in collaboration with Audiovisual Producers Finland - APFI, Yle and the Finnish Film Foundation. The selection spans thrillers, crime-dramas, coming-of-age stories and documentaries.

A new addition to this year’s programme is the Nordic Genre Lab selection, created in collaboration with the training programme dedicated to accelerating the development of genre feature films. The strand brings together eight genre-crossing projects from across the Nordic region. Finland is represented by Pete Riski’s time-hopping action thriller Alma, Juha Fiilin’s body-horror flick Echo Chamber, Josefina Rautiainen’s Linden Lane 6 and Teemu Niukkanen’s Cold War-era comedy Sauna Diplomacy. Norway contributes Kjersti Helen Rasmussen’s post-blackout survival drama Long Way Home, while Denmark’s Kristian Lidegaard presents the found-footage horror The Evil Eye and Sweden’s Johannes Persson brings along the wilderness thriller Trespassers. The selection is topped off by Gudmund Helmsdal’s horror Whistler, from the Faroe Islands.

The Finnish Film Affair is part of the Helsinki International Film Festival, also known as Love & Anarchy, which also organises School Kino and the Söderlångvik Masterclass.

Here are the projects selected for the 2026 Finnish Film Affair:

Fiction in Progress

Lex Julia – Laura Hyppönen (Finland/Poland/Estonia/Sweden)
Producers: Merja Ritola, Essi Haukkamaa-Judge (Greenlit Productions)
Co-producers: Magdalena Zimecka, Marta Krzeptowska (Orka Film), Marianne Ostrat (Aleksandra Film), Daniel Lägersten (Götafilm), Gila Bergqvist Ulfung (Breidablick)

The Campers – Kari Ketonen (Finland)
Producers: Jonna Enroth, Paavo Tervonen, Antti Luusuaniemi (Red Carpet Film & TV)

Lapland War – Aku Louhimies (Finland)
Producers: Andrei Alén, Sirkka Rautiainen, Aku Louhimies (Backmann & Hoderoff)

Halima – Naima Mohamud (Finland/Ireland)
Producers: Anita Hyppönen, Jani Pösö (It's Alive Films), Hannu Aukia (No-Office Films), Cormac Fox, Colmán Mac Cionnaith (Vico Films)

Good Times – Pamela Tola (Finland/Estonia)
Producers: Aleksi Bardy (Bardy Studios), Tia Ståhlberg (Stellar)

Fiction in Development

The Bottom Line – Jon Blåhed (Finland/Sweden)
Producers: Mia Welin (Just Republic Oy), Tiina Pesonen (Anagram Sweden)

The Lost Sons of Nada – Kyran Davies, Scott Quinn (Finland/UK)
Producers: Joel Rahkonen (Poolboy), Sonia Stenius (Falcon Nest Films)

Babyface – Aleksi Delikouras (Finland)
Producer: Anniina Leppänen (Helsinki-filmi)

The Weight of a Man – Jojo Erholtz (Finland)
Producer: Antti Kaarlela (Whatever Pictures)

The Big Party – Nicole Genovese (France/Belgium/Finland)
Producers: Nelson Ghrénassia (Yukunkun), Frakas, Good Hand

Tick Fever – Sebastian Granskog (Finland)
Producers: Mia Palmgren, Laura Laaksonen (Character House)

Big Deal – Hedda Mjøen (Norway/Finland/Estonia)
Producer: Oda Kruse (Kruela Film)

Kekri: Trick or Die – Jari Pauna (Finland)
Producer: Jari Pauna Pictures

Documentaries

Darkness Counts – Anna Antsalo (Finland)
Producer: Venla Hellstedt (Elokuvayhtiö Viisi Oy)

Mariana’s Lament – Antti Haase, Mariana Reyes (Finland/Bulgaria/Mexico)
Producer: Kaarle Aho (Making Movies Oy)

Dear Iria – Janna Kyllästinen (USA/Finland)
Producers: Kati Aho, Iris Olsson, Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff (Iria the Film LLC, BUFO)

P – Vladimir Loginov (Estonia)
Producer: Janika Möls (Korraks Film OÜ)

Myllylä – Sean Ricks, Jussi Sandhu, Ville Hakonen (Finland/Sweden/Norway)
Producers: Pasi Hakkio (Wacky Tie Films), Story AB, f(x) produksjoner AS

Lonesome Land – Virpi Suutari (Finland/Denmark)
Producer: Virpi Suutari (Euphoria Film), Tambo Film

Unicorns Never Die – Janne Tanskanen, Olli Vuokko (Finland)
Producers: Ari Matikainen, Pauliina Maus (Kinocompany)

Umarells – We Know Better – Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen (Finland/Germany)
Producers: Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen, Dirk Manthey (Zone2 Pictures)

Nordic Selection

11 Hours – Emilie Beck (Norway)
Producers: Marte Hansen (Fenomen Studios), Maha Film

Without You – Nils Holst-Jensen (Denmark)
Producer: Daniel Mühlendorph (Hyæne Film)

Just a Kid – Vala Omarsdottir (Iceland/Estonia)
Producer: Hlin Johannesdottir (Ursus Parvus)

Series

Tango Metal – Jojo Erholtz (Finland/Iceland)
Producers: Mia Ylönen (Helsinki-filmi), Andri Ómarsson (Glassriver)

Body in the Closet – Elin Grönblom (Finland)
Producers: Mia Oikarinen, Miira Karhula, Suvi Salokoski (Warner Bros International Television Production Finland)

Checkmate (Finland)
Writer: Veli-Pekka Hänninen
Producer: Rimbo Salomaa (Solar Films Inc)

The Crimes of Others (Finland)
Writers: Sami Keski-Vähälä, Tarja Kylmä
Producers: Sami Keski-Vähälä, Ville Myllyrinne (Funfar Studios Oy)

The Tradwife Theory (Finland)
Writer: Vilja Keskimäki
Producers: Tiina Pesonen, Jemina Jokisalo, Sasu Norhomaa (Just Republic Oy)

Arctic Divers – Laura Satimus (Finland)
Producers: Helena Ruohotie (Kopla Entertainment Oy), Petro Salminen (Yle Asia)

Nordic Genre Lab

Echo Chamber – Juha Fiilin (Finland)
Producers: Debbie Stephens, Juha Fiilin (Fiilin Good Films Oy)

Whistler – Gudmund Helmsdal (Faroe Islands)
Producer: Jón Hammer (Outlier Projects)

The Evil Eye – Kristian Lidegaard (Denmark)
Producer: Maria Møller Kjeldgaard (Manna Film)

Sauna Diplomacy – Teemu Niukkanen (Finland)
Producers: John Lundsten, Oskari Huttu (TACK Films)

Trespassers – Johannes Persson (Sweden)
Producers: Patrik Andersson, Jakob Abrahamsson (Mylla Films)

Long Way Home – Kjersti Helen Rasmussen (Norway)
Producer: Njål Lambrechts (Truewest AS)

Linden Lane 6 – Josefina Rautiainen (Finland)
Producer: Anita Hyppönen (It's Alive Films)

Alma – Pete Riski (Finland)
Producers: Pauliina Piipponen, Kai Nordberg, Kaarle Aho (Making Movies Ltd)