A total of 150 filmmakers applied to the development programme, which will be starting for the third time this spring. The five chosen filmmakers will receive international mentoring and EUR 55,000 for working on their first feature-length film.
Three fictional films will be worked on in the programme: Mitt år i fiktionen (My Year in Fiction) by Kaya Pakaslahti (Silmu Films / Jenni Jauri), Beatan kevät (Beata’s Spring) by Juho-Pekka Tanskanen (Dionysos Films / Venla Hellstedt), and Kaikkialla (Everywhere) by collaborators Veikko Timonen and Arman Zafari (film production company Komeetta / Kaisla Viitala, Daniel Kuitunen).
This season, documentary films are represented by Elämänlanka (Lifeline) by Laura Rantanen (Wild Hog Productions / Jenni Ripatti) and The Forest Is for Wisdom by Hannu Karjalainen (Polygraf / Sandra Enkvist).
The funding for new works brings hope for the industry’s future
Kehittämö is the first, and for the time being only, development programme in Finland for new creators in the audiovisual industry. During the development period, which will last just under a year, the ideas for works will be refined into high-quality proposals that also have the potential to achieve international success.
According to Director of AVEK Ulla Simonen, the industry has a dire need for funding for new original ideas.
“Currently, news reporting is naturally focused on the emergency faced by the film industry. The Finnish audiovisual industry is in a state of crisis because there have been cuts to both state aid for organisations in the field and Yle’s operations. International distribution has decreased, and fewer and fewer productions are initiated in the first place,” Simonen says.
“Kehittämö is the glimmer of light that we need, especially right now, for the future prospects of films. Recognising and supporting new talents brings continuity to the industry, which we know also has potential from the perspective of exports.”
A connection with the audience allows films to stand out from the rest
In Kehittämö, each filmmaker will have their own mentor, with whom they will form a close collaborative relationship. With guidance from top international professionals, detailed development plans will be drawn up for the works.
Screenwriter, dramaturge and development producer Karol Griffiths (Robin and the Hoods, Paradise Highway) is an experienced mentor who started her career with Sam Raimi and the Coen brothers. She says that the professional mentoring provided alongside financial resources is a form of support that makes Kehittämö exceptional.
“We provide a safe environment for skill development, meaningful connections, and disciplined learning.”
There is fierce competition in the industry for both funding and the audience’s attention.
“In a world of streaming and loads of films being made, a first feature easily ends up as more ‘content in the pool of content’,” says script consultant and project developer Mette Damgaard-Sørensen (the Guilty, Sauna), who is participating in Kehittämö as a mentor for the first time.
For ten years, she has focused solely on first features while leading the New Danish Screen funding programme, which also served as an example for Kehittämö.
“For a film to succeed, it has to be in touch with the big themes floating around and it must be made to feel important to the audience.”
Trainer and producer Grant Keir (e.g. From Scotland with Love, Off the Rails) wants to help filmmakers identify their deepest motivations for why they want to make a film.
“This, I believe, is important in the process of allowing the film makers to identify the emotional core of their project, which in turn, helps the film to find and move audiences.”
The other mentors participating in Kehittämö this time around are Gitte Schnyder-Hansen (No Other Land, a-ha The Movie), an expert in the development of documentary films, international financing forums and distribution, as well as editor and script consultant Nayeem Mahbub (Agent of Happiness, Happyend).
Enquiries:
Ulla Simonen, Director, AVEK
ulla.simonen(at)avek.kopiosto.fi, +358 44 790 0344
Corrections made 10th of April 2025: Previously Arman Zafari’s name was written incorrectly Zafari Arman. Also Zafari ja Timonen’s film was incorrectly called Syytön (Innocent). The name of the film is Kaikkialla (Everywhere).
