Dome Karukoski’s Tom of Finland and AJ Annila’s The Eternal Road are among 11 Finnish Works in Progress to be pitched in Helsinki.

The Works in Progress session is one of the highlights of the 5th Finnish film market running September 20-22, parallel to the Helsinki Love & Anarchy Film Festival.

“We have a larger number of ambitious international co-productions this year, such as Tom of Finland, The Eternal Road, Aku Louhimies’s The Unknown Soldier and Jussi Hiltunen’s Law of the Law,” said Sara Norberg, Managing Director at Love & Anarchy Helsinki Film Festival.

Norberg also mentions among the works in progress competing for Best Pitch, Post-Punk Disorder (follow up to the 2012 hit documentary The Punk Syndrome) and The Thick Lashes of Lauri Mäntyvaara, by Cinefondation graduate Hannaleena Hauru, produced by Aamu Film (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki).

Ten other projects will be pitched as ‘Works in Development’, such as the TV drama Sherlock North directed and produced by Juha Wuolijoki (Christmas Story, Zarra’s Law) and the epic drama White Hunger directed by Mikko Kuparinen (Two Nights Till Morning).

Twenty-four completed Finnish films are screening at Finnish Film Affair and several will be looking for a sales agent. “Last year six Finnish films found a sales agent in Helsinki and we see more concrete results year after year,” noted Norberg.

In its second year, the US market focus will bring together Finnish filmmakers/producers and a delegation of top US delegates including Claudia Lewis (former President of production Fox Searchlight) and Adam Leipzig (former Disney, National Geographic). Leipzig and Lewis will also take part in the industry panel ‘Finding Concepts and Stories that Travel’ alongside Mike Goodridge (Protagonist Pictures), Mike Runagall (Altitude Film Sales) and Laura Munsterhjelm (Actors in Scandinavia).

Here is the full list of 2016 Works in progress: 

  • The Story of a Mobile Phone by Arto Koskinen (Illume) 
  • The Mayor of Nowhere by Tonislav Hristov (Making Movies) 
  • Post-Punk Disorder by Jukka Kärkkäinen and J.P. Passi (Mouka Filmi) 
  • Law of the Land by Jussi Hiltunen (Ming Movies) 
  • Euthanizer by Teemu `nikki (It’s Alive Films) 
  • Thick Lashes of Lauri Mäntyvaara by Hannaleena Hauru (Aamu Film) 
  • Star Boys by Visa Koiso-Kanttila (Silva Mysterioum) 
  • The Eternal Road by AJ Annila (Matila Röhr Productions) 
  • The Unknown Soldier by Aku Louhimies (Elokuvaosakeyhtiö Suomi 2017)
  • Tom of Finland by Dome Karukoski (Helsinkifilmi) 
  • Love and Fury by Alli Haapasalo (Solar Films).

For further details, check: www.finnishfilmaffair.fi