In its final round of funding in 2024, the Finnish Film Foundation’s board gave development and production support to seven documentary features and one doc series, amounting to 831,000 euros.
Additional support was given to 4 fiction features and a short, bringing the total amount of Finnish production support in this round to 3 million euros.
The documentary projects that received support are:
- Burnt Earth (Maastopalo) Director & scriptwriter: John Webster. Producer: Marko Talli. Production company: Yellow Film & TV. Support sum: 153,000 euros. Synopsis: Burnt Earth is a story about a group of firefighters from Finland – 49 men and 1 woman – who train to become the newest and most northern unit in a pan-European emergency response organisation. To learn how to fight large fires now and in future, the Finns travel to Portugal to learn from the best: from the veteran Portuguese firefighters already fighting on the frontlines of our rapidly warming world.
- But I’m No Influencer Director: Jussi Sandhu. Scriptwriters: Jussi Sandhu, Hanna Kaihlanen. Producer: Pasi Hakkio. Production company: Wacky Tie Films. Support sum: 137,000 euros. Synopsis: In March 2022, the world’s first-ever higher education program for social media was launched in Tampere. But I’m No Influencer explores the questions of education export and social media through the eyes of a Filipino immigrant, Mark. What should we all really learn about Influencing?
- In Full Agreement (Äitini Venäjä) Director & scriptwriter: Panu Suuronen. Producer: Susanna Lasarov. Production company: Mediawan Finland. Support sum: 153,000 euros
- Kuolemattomuusprojekti (series) Director & scriptwriter: Krista Hannula. Producer: Pete Eklund. Production company: Kaiho Republic. Support sum: 135,000 euros. Synopsis: A documentary series about a young man who decided to become Finland’s most popular pop star.
- Rooms (Huoneet) Director & scriptwriter: Antti Lempiäinen. Producer: Eliel Kilkki. Production company: Superreel Productions. Support sum: 38,000 euros
- Soap Fever (Kaunarikuume) Director & scriptwriter: Inka Achté. Producers: Liisa Karpo, Marianne Mäkelä. Production company: napafilms. Support sum: 155,000 euros. Synopsis: The director returns to live in Finland and begins to explore how in her childhood in the 1990s the recession caused the country to go berserk from the start of the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Reality and fantasy became mixed when a Los Angeles fashion house with all its interpersonal trials and tribulations suddenly intruded into their everyday lives. The director felt left out back then and ended up abroad. Only now, on her return, she understands the subtlety and importance of the past phenomena around The Bold and the Beautiful.
- Amongst the Birds (Minority support) Directors: Mika Kaurismäki, Ragnar Axelsson, Gunnar Örn Arnorsson. Scriptwriters: Gunnar Örn Arnorsson, Ragnar Axelsson, Ingvar Thordarsson. Producers: Ingvar Thordarsson, Jukka Helle. Finnish co-production company: Solar Films. Production company: Neutrinos Productions (Iceland). Support sum: 40,000 euros. Synopsis: Ólafur Aðalsteinsson and Jóhanna Óladóttir, a husband and wife duo, embody a rare connection to nature. Ólafur, widely regarded as one of the world’s premier ornithologists despite lacking formal accreditation, finds solace and purpose in his avian companions within the remote confines of Loðmundarfjörður, Iceland. A mythical fjord that’s not been inhabited by humans since the sixties. Ólafur and Jóhanna have dedicated their lives to the welfare of the eider birds. (Minority co-production Iceland/Finland)
- Cyclovia (Minority support) Director & scriptwriter: Finlay Pretsell. Producers: Sonja Henrici, Kaarle Aho. Finnish co-production company: Making Movies. Production company: Parcel of Rogues (United Kingdom). Support sum: 40,000 euros. Synopsis: Cyclovia is a universal cinematic story about freedom, life and love set in Colombia. The bicycle is embedded deep within Colombia’s culture. A vivid multi-textured picture of not only why Colombia produces the best cyclists in the world but how the bike is a vital component for living. (Minority co-production UK/Denmark/Sweden/Finland/Colombia)
