Documentaries
Lessons in Fire
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- John Webster
- Screenwriters
- John Webster
- Producers
- Marko Talli, Eveliina Kantola
- Premiere
- 26.9.2025
- SES grant
- 153 000 €
- Budget
- 417 000 €
- Production companies
- Yellow Film & TV
- Distribution companies
- SF Studios Oy
Lessons in Fire is a character-driven climate change story about ordinary, very relatable people, doing something exceptional. It’s 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.
Coming from small-towns in the most northern regions of Europe, the Finns are seasoned professionals more used to rescue missions in ice and snow, but in Portugal they enter a fiery world they have never experienced before. Burnt Earth is a visually stunning and dramatically powerful film that takes the audience on an immersive journey into the devastating impacts of climate change, seen through the lens of those who dare to confront it.
Ismo – Maailman hauskin ulkopuolinen
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Ilkka Hynninen, Saku Pollari
- Screenwriters
- Riku Suokas, Johanna Tohni, Ismo Leikola
- Producers
- Erna Aalto
- Premiere
- 1.11.2024
- Production companies
- ICS Nordic
- Distribution companies
- SF Studios Oy
Fruitcakes – The Dawn of Drag
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Vesa Kuosmanen
- Screenwriters
- Vesa Kuosmanen
- Producers
- Sandra Enkvist
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 182 000 €
- Budget
- 348 000 €
- Production companies
- Polygraf Oy
Jolanda, a retired archivist, has treasured memories of his beloved friend Mummo for decades. In 1979, they performed together in Finland’s first drag show Happy Gays. Now, with a filmmaker, Jolanda invites a new generation of queer drag artists to re-enact their friendship. As the performers explore Jolanda’s past and the challenges he faced as an outsider, they realize their freedom and pride are rooted in the struggles of those who came before them.
Naurua pimeässä
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Jaana Puhakka
- Screenwriters
- Jaana Puhakka
- Producers
- Jaana Puhakka
- Release year
- in production
- SES grant
- 64 000 €
- Budget
- 138 000 €
- Production companies
- Elokuvatuotanto Kuvani
Mörkö
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Emilia Hernesniemi
- Screenwriters
- Emilia Hernesniemi
- Producers
- Venla Hellstedt
- Release year
- 2025
- SES grant
- 68 000 €
- Budget
- 150 000 €
- Production companies
- Dionysos Films Oy
Almost Forever
- International co-production SE-FI
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Hannah Reinikainen, Lia Hietala
- Screenwriters
- Hannah Reinikainen, Lia Hietala
- Producers
- Marianne Mäkelä, Melissa Lindgren
- Release year
- 2026
- SES grant
- 51 000 €
- Budget
- 602 000 €
- Production companies
- napafilms oy
Almost Forever follows Jasmine, Philip, and their motley crew of friends as they explore friendship, love, and identity over five formative years. As the carefree summers of childhood fade into teenage turmoil, the bonds that once united them are tested, reshaping their paths to adulthood.
Truth or Dare
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Tonislav Hristov
- Screenwriters
- Kaarle Aho
- Producers
- Kaarle Aho
- Release year
- 2025
- SES grant
- 160 000 €
- Budget
- 524 000 €
- Production companies
- Making Movies Oy
A documentary about fakes that fly while facts stay put. A female journalist takes on fake news and Russian trolls in the Balkans. Follow the money, find the sources.
Equal Dust
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Jani Peltonen
- Screenwriters
- Jani Peltonen
- Producers
- Kaarle Aho
- Release year
- 2025
- SES grant
- 52 000 €
- Budget
- 79 000 €
- Production companies
- Making Movies Oy
NATO’s nuclear exercise, a tracking shot through nocturnal Helsinki and the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest entries show what the end of the world looked like in the 1980s.
The Smuggler
- International co-production SE-FI
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Sylvelin Måkestad
- Screenwriters
- Sylvelin Måkestad
- Producers
- Ina Holmqvist, Juha Löppönen
- Release year
- 2026
- SES grant
- 41 000 €
- Budget
- 552 000 €
- Production companies
- Mouka Filmi Oy
Newly retired Lisbeth sets out on the most important mission of her life: to find the gun her father turned on himself in 1940, but with which he failed to take his own life. The weapon vanished, becoming a haunting family legend. Determined to bring the gun home to Sweden, she joins a “therapy bus” of fellow children of war veterans. What follows is an emotional journey through Finland, where Lisbeth encounters an arms dealer, sings karaoke, learns to shoot, and receives cryptic guidance from a witch. As the bus nears the Russian border, she edges closer not only to the lost pistol, but to reconciliation with her father, her past, and a country scarred by old wounds.
Redlight to Limelight
- International co-production IN-FI
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Bipuljit Basu
- Screenwriters
- Bipuljit Basu
- Producers
- Nilotpal Majumd, John Webster
- Release year
- 2025
- SES grant
- 25 000 €
- Budget
- 352 000 €
- Production companies
- JW Documentaries Oy
The dream of telling their own stories brings sex workers and their children together to form a tiny self-taught film unit in a Kolkata brothel. The amateur but resilient film crew eventually scales the battle up to resist prostitution among girls and makes the brothel a better place to live.