10 films receive production support in October

The Board of the Finnish Film Foundation granted close to 1.4 million euros in production support to 10 projects in October.

Image: Pikkuli and Starlight Reindeer / AittoFlow

The projects include an animated feature film and five documentaries as well as four minority co-productions: one feature film, two documentaries and one short film.

Pikkuli and Starlight Reindeer, written and directed by Metsämarja Aittokoski and Antti Aittokoski, is an animated feature film aimed at small children. The characters have previously been seen on an animated series and in books.

NB: The support sums below include previously granted development support.

Feature films

Pikkuli and Starlight Reindeer (Pikkuli ja Tähtipeura)
animated

Directors: Metsämarja Aittokoski, Antti Aittokoski
Scriptwriters: Metsämarja Aittokoski, Katri Myllyniemi
Producers: Metsämarja Aittokoski, Tom Carpelan, Ira Carpelan
Production company: AittoFlow
Support sum: 892,000 euros

Adults cancel Christmas! Pikkuli and his friends set out on a secret mission to find the mythical Starlight Reindeer and save Christmas. They meet many obstacles and dangers, and eventually find Starlight Reindeer – only to realise that what makes Christmas special is that they are all together. The kids return home and the adults uncancel Christmas! At the core of the story is the amazing power of Pikkuli’s faith in his dream. Faith can move mountains and even the smallest of us can do great things.

Silver Blues
minority co-production PT-BG-FI

Director: Rodrigo Areias
Scriptwriters: Olga Shomska, Eduardo Brito
Producers: Rodrigo Areias, Kamen Velkovsky, Mark Lwoff, Misha Jaari
Finnish co-production company: Bufo
Production company: Bando à Parte (Portugal)
Support sum: 150,000 euros

Documentary films

Creaturama – Epic of the Animals

Director & scriptwriter: Juha Suonpää
Producers: Juha Suonpää, Liis Nimik
Production company: Swamphead
Support sum: 126,000 euros

Creaturama is an experimental nature film where animals are not merely subjects of the image – but its creators. For seven years, trail cameras left in the forest recorded animal life without human presence, revealing a unique perspective into the forest’s own reality. The film shifts the power of the gaze from humans to animals, offering a poetic, visually hypnotic journey into otherness, coexistence, and the language of the forest. Creaturama is a tapestry of sensations and presences, where animal and landscape merge – as if the forest itself were telling the story.

Haaveisiin vajonnut
minority co-production FR-FI

Director & scriptwriter: Marie-Eve de Grave
Finnish co-production company: Making Movies
Producers: Charlotte Uzu, Kaarle Aho
Production company: Les Films d’Ici (France)
Support sum: 40,000 euros

A documentary film about a Finnish cinema.

Hold on, Catlyn! (Catlyn – Ohjastamisen taito)

Director & scriptwriter: Mervi Junkkonen
Producers: Jouko Aaltonen, Oona Saari
Production company: Illume
Support sum: 120,000 euros

Hold on, Catlyn! is a documentary film about Catlyn who is living in the periphery but who gets to know her neighbour Sari Kettunen, the champion of a past year’s Reindeer Cup. Catlyn’s life is drastically shaken when she gets interested in reindeer racing. It is a world that she must take over in order to grow as a person – even if it’s a little scary at times. Through her new hobby and with Sari’s support, Catlyn finds confidence to be herself.

Jamila’s Children (Jamilan lapset)

Director & scriptwriter: Arezo Ariapoor
Producer: Iiris Härmä
Production company: Guerilla Films
Support sum: 135,000 euros

The film depicts a year in which siblings grow into young adults, each searching for their own path and identity, while challenging each other in the crossfire of their own culture and the values of the society around them.

Let Our Mountains Live
minority co-production NO-FI

Director: Håvard Bustnes
Scriptwriters: Kati Eriksen, Håvard Bustnes, Johannes Vang
Producer: Kati Eriksen
Finnish co-production company: Home River Media
Production company: UpNorth Film (Norway)
Support sum: 45,000 euros

In October 2021, Terje Haugen, Sissel Stormo Holtan and other reindeer herders at Fosen win a landmark case at Norway’s Supreme Court. The court rules that the 151 giant wind turbines violate human rights, threatening the Sámi’s right to maintain their traditional reindeer husbandry. This is a massive victory for Terje and Sissel, who have fought the wind project for over 20 years. The turbines must now be removed so the mountain grazing lands — vital for winter pasture — can be restored.

The Misfit (Sopeutumaton)

Director: Miikka Poutiainen
Scriptwriters: Miikka Poutiainen, Sami Salminen
Producers: Miikka Poutiainen, Sami Salminen
Production company: PinkAgency
Support sum: 40,000 euros

A coming-of-age story of a highly sensitive hyperactive city dweller Nadja living on the edge of social exclusion, deepest fears, the world of self-help and the encounter of a strange intergenerational burden. The observational documentary was filmed during the period of six years.

The Recovery

Directors & scriptwriters: Jukka Metsäaho, Jyri Paajamaa
Producers: Van Padhaal, Jyri Paajamaa
Production company: Pablo Films
Support sum: 65,000 euros

Short films

A Woman’s Triumph
minority co-production NO-FI

Director: Alexander Zwart
Scriptwriters: Tomas Solli, Valia Phyllis Zwart, Alexander Zwart
Producers: Valia Phyllis Zwart, Joonas Berghäll
Finnish co-production company: Oktober
Production company: Komet Film (Norway)
Support sum: 21,500 euros

A wealthy man stages a suicide attempt to win back the love of his life. The false suicide attempt ends in murder.