In November, the Finnish Film Foundation published preliminary data on cinema attendance in 2024. Up until 20 November 2024, Finnish cinemas had attracted more than 6,070,000 movie lovers, with an audience share of 33% for domestic films – a top percentage compared to other countries.

Lasse Saarinen, CEO of the Finnish Film Foundation, is satisfied with this result: “This year has shown that the Finnish audience wants and needs domestic cinema. Exceeding the two-million-viewer mark for the first time since 2017 is a strong indication that the themes of our national films are important to Finnish viewers.”

This year’s most-watched movie is Tiina Lymi’s Swedish-language historical drama Stormskerry Maja [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film], which passed through both Göteborg and IFFR, and drew in 469,000 Finnish cinema-goers. In addition to Lymi’s work, four more Finnish-produced films have surpassed the 100,000-admissions mark: Luottomies-elokuva: All in by Kari Ketonen sold 324,000 tickets; Panu Raipia’s Kyllä isä osaa elokuva appealed to 223,000 viewers; the children’s film Hayflower, Quiltshoe and the Chicken, which was directed by Reetta Aalto based on books by Sinikka and Tiina Nopola, attracted 182,000 kids and viewers feeling young at heart; and, last but not least, Mika Kaurismäki’s Long, Good Thursday also ranked in the top five, with an audience of 171,000.

What stands out is that two of these films, Luottomies-elokuva: All in and Kyllä isä osaa elokuva, are based on beloved Finnish comedy series, so this seems to be a recipe that works well for the national box office. All five aforementioned films have received marketing and distribution support from the Finnish Film Foundation, and Kyllä isä osaa elokuva also received production support.

Moreover, documentaries have also had a successful year, with three of them exceeding 10,000 admissions, an outstanding number for docs: Virpi Suutari’s Once Upon a Time in a Forest [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Virpi Suutari
scheda film]; Ismo – maailman hauskin ulkopuolinen, a film about Finland’s most famous comedy export to the USA, Ismo Leikola; and Pepe, a music documentary by Severi Koivusalo.

Despite this positive news, the Finnish Film Foundation has suffered a €1 million budget cut this year, and the budget will be reduced by another half a million euros in 2025. Lasse Saarinen warns that these cuts threaten to undermine the foundation’s ability to continue to provide production support, as well as sorely needed support for Finnish cinemas. Such theatres will need millions in funding in the coming years to replace projectors that have reached the end of their lives. If these cannot be replaced, closures loom, especially in small towns and cities.

You can view the full Finnish Film Foundation report here.