Documentaries
Paradise in Hel
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Mika Mattila
- Screenwriters
- Mika Mattila, Nino Poppius, Dylan Pashley
- Producers
- Axel Högström, Satu Majava
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 130 000 €
- Budget
- 541 000 €
- Production companies
- Parad Media Oy
The documentary series Paradise in Hel tells the story of mystic Ior Bock, the mythology he told, and the people who followed him. The series weaves together the three timelines: Ior’s own tragic life-story from beginning to end, the rise and fall of the Bock-Saga cult born in Goa in the 1980’s, and the rebirth of the Saga in modern times–as well as the followers’ attempts to prove its authenticity. The overarching theme of the series is new-age spiritualism and the innate human desire for connection and belief.
Perstuntuma
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Peter Lindholm
- Screenwriters
- Peter Lindholm
- Producers
- Mika Ritalahti, Niko Ritalahti
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 167 000 €
- Budget
- 250 000 €
- Production companies
- Silva Mysterium Oy
Silent Legacy
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Jenni Kivistö, Jussi Rastas
- Screenwriters
- Jenni Kivistö, Jussi Rastas
- Producers
- Ella Ruohonen
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 147 000 €
- Budget
- 500 000 €
- Production companies
- Väki Films Oy
Sibiry, a choreographer from Burkina Faso now living in Finland, struggles with the unrealistic expectations from his original home country, while also seeking connection in his new country. Viewed as a privileged European back home yet an outsider in Finland, he longs to be seen as an equal. Through dance, the film explores identity, migration, and colonial legacies, shedding light on complex societal pressures faced by African migrants and ultimately how the European filmmakers’ presence unintentionally ends up affecting the reality.
Riding with Death
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Nina Forsman, Sakari Suuronen
- Screenwriters
- Nina Forsman, Sakari Suuronen
- Producers
- Markku Tuurna
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 156 000 €
- Budget
- 281 000 €
- Production companies
- Filmimaa Oy
Riding with Death is a documentary film about the hidden social and emotional impacts of Tuberculosis. In this poetic film, family secrets are revealed, using unseen archives, contemporary observational cinema and dramatized expressive scenes. In order to save children from a fatal infection, they were isolated as newborn and taken into a special institution called Christmas Seal Home. That period of detachment was never talked about in the family, but left permanent scars in the children’s emotional life.
The Last Misfits by The Golden River
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Juho-Pekka Tanskanen
- Screenwriters
- Juho-Pekka Tanskanen
- Producers
- Isabella Karhu
- Premiere
- 4.4.2025
- SES grant
- 53 000 €
- Budget
- 195 000 €
- Production companies
- Danish Bear Productions Oy
- Distribution companies
- Pirkanmaan elokuvakeskus
The Last Misftis by The Golden River follows the human fates of a 150-year-old gold prospector community in the distant Lapland wilderness, beyond telephone networks. Their peaceful life comes to an end when a new law forces them to abandon their way of living. Depicted through painting-like visual expression, this warm, bittersweet, and universal story tells about the only permanent thing there is: change.
The Helsinki Effect
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Arthur Franck
- Screenwriters
- Arthur Franck
- Producers
- Sandra Enkvist, Arthur Franck
- Premiere
- 11.4.2025
- SES grant
- 160 000 €
- Budget
- 363 000 €
- Production companies
- Polygraf Oy
The Helsinki Effect is an all-archival essay documentary that explores the power narratives and myths of the Cold War era. Based on hundreds of hours of archival footage, the film deconstructs the anatomy of an often misunderstood diplomatic process, and reveals how it came to impact the world in a decisive way.
Alma – Life Must Be Beautiful
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Pamela Tola
- Screenwriters
- Pamela Tola
- Producers
- Oskari Huttu
- Premiere
- 15.3.2024
- Production companies
- Lucy Loves Drama
- Distribution companies
- Cinemanse
World’s Smallest Parliament
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Johan Karrento, Stefan Gustafsson
- Screenwriters
- Johan Karrento, Stefan Gustafsson
- Producers
- Stefan Gustafsson, Johan Karrento
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 62 000 €
- Budget
- 247 000 €
- Production companies
- Tartufi Creative Ab
In a turbulent world, one of the world’s smallest parliaments is trying to develop its autonomy, but relations with the mother country, Finland, hang by a fragile thread. Facing the upcoming election, the current leader, Veronica, confronts opposition within her own party and must navigate through challenging political waters to secure the future of the island nation.
It Is Not (a) Mine
- International co-production PL-FI
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Natalia Korianz
- Screenwriters
- Natalia Korianz
- Producers
- Maciej Kubicki, Iikka Vehkalahti
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 15 000 €
- Budget
- 151 000 €
- Production companies
- IV Films Oy
The 4,800-metre-high mountain of Cerro Rico is situated next to Potosi which used to be one of the richest cities in Bolivia. Cerro has been continuously exploited by people since the 15th century. The locals say that the mountain eats men. It is estimated that around eight million people died there mining for silver. The average life span is thirty-six years.
Etna
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Sinna Virtanen
- Screenwriters
- Sinna Virtanen
- Producers
- Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 70 000 €
- Budget
- 200 000 €
- Production companies
- Oy Bufo Ab
Etna is a documentary film about transgenerational distress and traumas.