This newsletter shares the good news of the Finnish films and TV series once a month. The content is intended to be an interesting news roundup both for separate newsletter subscribers and for media representatives interested in films and TV series.
Finnish films and TV series gained international visibility in September through Finland’s Oscar submission, distribution deals and festival success. Finnish talent was also showcased at events including Nordisk Panorama, Cartoon Forum, IDFA and Finnish Film Affair, which help Finnish projects reach international audiences and partners. The Freyas awards brought Nordic creatives together with international industry professionals. Meanwhile, film financier IPR.VC highlighted how more sustainable production practices can reduce both emissions and costs.
1. Short news about Finnish films and TV series in September 2026
Squirrel (Orava), written and directed by Markus Lehmusruusu, has been selected as Finland’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. This distinctive science fiction film is set in a future where nature has become a distant memory. It stars Miro Lopperi and Mimosa Willamo.
Produced by Pyjama Films and based on JP Ahonen’s webcomic, Belzebubs is a 13-episode animated series for adults. The €4.5 million international co-production involved around 270 contributors from ten countries. The series has already been sold to Italy, Spain, Czechia and Iceland. It is Yle’s entry in the Video Fiction category of the prestigious Prix Europa competition.
Red Snow (Punaista lunta), a horror comedy directed by Ilja Rautsi and produced by Bufo, has secured international distribution through the Shudder streaming service. The Finnish-Estonian-Swedish co-production is Rautsi’s feature directorial debut.
Nightborn (Yön lapsi), a psychological horror film directed by Hanna Bergholm and produced by Komeetta, has been sold to Mexico, Japan and Turkey. Theatrical releases in several other countries are also planned during the year.
The 18th edition of La Finlande en 3 films took place in Paris in September. The program featured four Finnish films: Alli Haapasalo’s Tell Everyone (Kerro Kaikille), Elin Grönblom’s Ella and Friends – Operation Otter (Ella ja kaverit – Operaatio Saukko), Samuli Valkama’s Kidnapping of the President (Presidentin kyyditys) and Karin Pennanen’s Days of Wonder (Päivien lumo).
Juha Löppönen received the Nordic Documentary Producer Award, while Jukka Kärkkäinen’s The Beauty of Errors (Kappale kauneinta Suomea) received a special mention at the Nordisk Panorama festival in Malmö. The Nordic co-production The Smuggler (Smugglaren) also won the festival’s top prize. Mouka Filmi is the film’s Finnish co-producer.
Yasmin Najjar’s 28 Days Left (TJ28) won the main prize in the Helsinki International Film Festival’s Finnish short film competition. Viljami Penttilä’s Major Bag Alert won the new Road to Clermont award. It will take the Finnish director to the international Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival.
Anima Vitae’s Minifauna and Animagency’s Epic Family were selected for the international Cartoon Forum in Toulouse. Created by Mariko Härkönen, Minifauna is a dialogue-free slapstick comedy set in a photorealistic Finnish forest. Epic Family, an animated series created by Ami Lindholm, Tero Suomela and Sanna Stellan, explores the exhaustion and absurdity of modern parenting.
PICNIC – In the Light Invisible to the Human Eye by Jan Ijäs has been selected for the short documentary competition at Amsterdam’s IDFA festival. The film examines the war in Gaza from the Israeli side, where it was shot on infrared film in autumn 2025.
2. Finnish projects shine at Finnish Film Affair
At Helsinki’s Finnish Film Affair, Naima Mohamud’s Halima won Best Fiction Project, Anna Antsalo’s Darkness Counts (Pimeän kutsu) won Best Documentary Project, and Teemu Niukkanen’s Sauna Diplomacy (Saunadiplomaatit) won Best Genre Film at the inaugural Nordic Genre Lab. The Producers Network award will take Helsinki Filmi producer Anniina Leppänen to Cannes’ Marché du Film next year. Linden Lane 6, directed by Josefina Rautiainen, will also head to the Göteborg Film Festival.
3. The new Freyas awards made a promising debut in Helsinki
Held for the first time in Helsinki, The Freyas awards aim to create a shared international platform for Nordic film and television. The event brought together Nordic creatives and international industry professionals. Honorees included Lena Olin, Lasse Hallström, Trine Dyrholm, Fares Fares and Finland’s Laura Birn. Following its Helsinki debut, the event will move to Copenhagen. Its long-term ambition is to become an annual meeting place for the Nordic audiovisual industry and its international partners.
4. Sustainable filmmaking also makes financial sense
IPR.VC has highlighted sustainability as a factor in financial efficiency and film financing. According to the company, reducing travel, using local production resources and reusing materials can lower both production emissions and costs. It requires the productions it finances to have a carbon emissions reduction plan and to measure their environmental impact. On films such as Materialists and Marty Supreme, up to 75% of sets and costumes were rented or second-hand, while electric and hybrid vehicles were used for transport. Alternative ways of supplying drinking water to the crew also replaced tens of thousands of single-use bottles.