Documentaries
In Cod We Trust
- International co-production NO-FI
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Guro Saniola Bjerk
- Screenwriters
- Guro Saniola Bjerk, Jussi Sandhu
- Producers
- Benedikte Bredesen, Pasi Hakkio
- Release year
- 2026
- SES grant
- 45 000 €
- Budget
- 424 840 €
- Production companies
- Wacky Tie Films
Welcome to Båtsfjord, one of the northernmost fishing villages of the world, where cod is more important than God. In Cod We Trust is a mosaic puzzle, where people are knit together by fish, the town and nature. With an observational camera and closely heard dialogue, you will feel like you are there, candidly watching them, as they reveal how history and circumstances shape us and our perception of home. Båtsfjord might be the most remote and coldest place on earth, but here you will find the warmest people with the most outstanding humour.
We spend time observing how the heart of the town beats, getting to know the surroundings and villagers bit by bit. The events are always unpredictable and the villagers are a diverse, quirky bunch of people. We meet the Syrian refugee, Sebastian, who thinks he must have arrived in hell, the Finnish Kimmo who rhetorically complains about his girlfriend, the town mayor who feels misplaced in his role, and the lonely, depressed 89-year-old Doris, who has realized she lives in the middle of nowhere when it is far too late to move.
In Cod We Trust is a portrait of a town, and a meditation on home and belonging.
D is for Distance
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Chris Petit, Emma Matthews
- Screenwriters
- Chris Petit
- Producers
- Mika Taanila, Jussi Eerola
- Release year
- 2025
- SES grant
- 111 500 €
- Budget
- 216 000 €
- Production companies
- Elokuvayhtiö Testifilmi Oy
D is for Distance is a montage of contemporary footage, archive and cinema history, creating an inquiry into the age of post-truth and how one young man’s illness became representative of the woes of the world and how he triumphed against adversity to produce his vision through singular paintings that are a result of his countless ‘trips’ into the other world.
All the Light That Remains
- Category
- Documentaries
- Directors
- Moona Pennanen
- Screenwriters
- Moona Pennanen
- Producers
- Ida Karoskoski
- Release year
- 2026
- SES grant
- 47 300 €
- Budget
- 100 000 €
- Production companies
- Illume Ltd. Oy
All the Light That Remains introduces the old mining village and seasonal worker Oleksandr, who arrives in Finland from Ukraine and lives in an in-between state, waiting for the end of the war. All the Light That Remains tells a poetic story about the village of Mätäsvaara, located in North Karelia, near the eastern border. It is a former mining village whose history has been forgotten. Through Oleksandr, who arrives to work in the area, the history of the village and the question hovering over the future of the mine begin to open up.
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
- Premiere
- 13.2.2026
- SES grant
- 147 000 €
- Budget
- 500 000 €
- Production companies
- Väki Films Oy
- Distribution companies
- Pirkanmaan elokuvakeskus
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
- Premiere
- 7.11.2025
- SES grant
- 156 000 €
- Budget
- 281 000 €
- Production companies
- Filmimaa Oy
- Distribution companies
- Pirkanmaan elokuvakeskus
The tuberculosis sanatoriums were heaven and hell. Riding with Death is a documentary film that shows the emotional impacts of the TB outbreak and reveals the rich sanatorium culture between 1920–60. The film alternates between the present and the era of the sanatoriums. Patients in the sanatoriums had an immense social life: theater plays, spiritism, zines with macabre humor, and secret clubs for drinking and smoking. For patients, the secluded life meant a new heightened sense of living, as you never knew how long you would live. Lifelong love stories were born, as well as friendships, survival stories, and carefree sex.
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