Finnish Film Affair, the industry arm of HIFF – Love & Anarchy, will take place in Helsinki from 20-22 September 2023. Doc and fiction projects both in development and production can apply before May 29.
This year FFA will also accept applications from projects for which Finland is minority co-production country. Priority is given for projects for which another Nordic country is the majority producer, say organisers, but all eligible projects are encouraged to apply.
Pitchers will receive pitch coaching and curated meetings will be arranged via the event’s matchmakers. “Whether you are an experienced pro in the international markets, or presenting your project for the very first time, we take your needs into consideration. Finnish Film Affair is an excellent and esteemed addition to your project’s international strategy, providing an extra boost in a variety of steps, from releasing your project for the first time, to reinforcing your industry contacts,” say organisers.
For projects where Finland isn’t the majority production country, the event also offers non-Finnish pitchers hotel accommodation during the event dates.
“Finland has been a co-production country for a wide selection of wonderful fiction and documentary films, such as the recent Oscar nominee, Denmark’s A House Made of Splinters. We wanted to both highlight this work and to keep organically growing the scope of the projects in our showcase,” says Head of Finnish Film Affair Maria Pirkkalainen-Barber.
A jury of international film industry professionals will make the selection in June 2023. In addition to the Head of FFA, the fiction jury members are Heidi Zwicker (Sundance Film Festival), Sergio Fant (Berlinale) and Eleonora Pesci (Curzon). The doc jury members are consultant & curator Sirkka Möller, Grant Keir (Faction North) and Andrea Kuhn (Nürnberg International Human Rights Film Festival). The main selection criteria is international potential and an assessment of the project’s (financial) feasibility.
The Nordic Selection programme, which highlights projects from first or second feature directors from the Nordic countries, and which don’t require a Finnish production company on-board, is invite-only.
Finnish Film Affair recently published an overview of its impact since its launch in 2012 through to 2021. The numbers don’t include the latest edition in 2022, which saw a further 25% increase in attendees compared to the last pre-pandemic event in 2019.
Key findings:
- 234 fiction and documentary projects were pitched in 2012-2021, with a further 250 completed films in the event’s film programme
- 212 different production companies have taken part in FFA
- FFA houses documentaries, fiction, and TV projects all under the same roof
- Over 2000 meetings have been curated between guests and project representatives
- Guests spanning from almost 50 countries worldwide
- Attended by the likes of HBO, Netflix, Tribeca, Festival de Cannes & Marché du Film
Click here for the full FFA report.
