'Halima' Wins Top Prize at Finnish Film Affair in Helsinki

Naima Mohamud's "Halima," the first Finnish feature film ever directed by a Black woman, won the Best Fiction prize at Helsinki's Finnish Film Affair on Thursday evening.

The comedy follows a 10-year-old Somali girl trying to fit into Finland in 1998. Former BBC journalist Mohamud, based between Dublin and Helsinki, studied filmmaking at London Metropolitan University and USC in Los Angeles.

"The director's energetic and authentic voice shone through in the pitch and translates into what promises to be a compelling lead performance," the jury said in a statement. "This is a 90s tinged snapshot of a Finland we haven't seen on screen before, by a fresh Finnish voice." The jury included U.S. producer and executive Jodi Hildebrand (formerly at Condé Nast and Marvel Studios), the British Film Institute's Phoebe Hall and FEST-New Directors festival director Fernando Vasquez.

It's Alive Films ("Euthanizer," "The Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic," "100 Litres of Gold") produces the film. Mohamud's debut marks a milestone for the company as well. "But it's also the first film not directed by Teemo [Nikki], co-owner of the company," said co-founder and producer Jani Pösö at his pitch, reminding the 500-plus delegates that their films are "entertaining takes on deadly serious subjects."

"This is the same here, and we simply had to make this movie," added Pösö, who produces with Finland's No-Office Films, in co-production with Ireland's Vico Films.

"This story was inspired by my family, and my experience of growing up in Finland, where no one had seen black people!" said Mohamud.

"Halima" previously won Best Pitch at the Haugesund New Nordic Films in 2024. It is now in post-production, with delivery set for fall 2027.

Norwegian Hostage Drama Takes €3,000 Nordic Prize

The same jury awarded the €3,000 ($3,400) Best Nordic Film Award, funded by the Amos Anderson Fund, to Norwegian suspense drama "11 Hours" by Emilie Beck, best known for Netflix's "Royalteen" and TV2 Norway's hit "Escaping Bolivia."

Inspired by true events, the film chronicles the traumatic 11 hours daycare director Sara, her employees and 11 children endured when an armed man took them hostage.

"This pitch made us all immediately lean forward in our seats," the jury said. "Using the form of a ripped-from-the-headlines hostage thriller to illuminate a complex and layered social story, it's a film we can't wait to see more of."

The feature toplines Ingrid Bolsø Berdal ("La Palma," "Detective Hole"), Jan Gunnar Røise (Dag Johan Haugerud's "Sex"), Oddgeir Thune ("Loveable," "Home for Christmas") and Sofia Tjelta ("Delete Me"). Produced by Fenomen Studios and Maha Film, it reaches Norwegian cinemas in September 2027 via Scanbox.

'Sauna Diplomacy' Wins Inaugural Genre Prize

The new €2,500 ($2,800) Best Genre Project award, sponsored by Post Control Helsinki & Angel Films, went to Teemu Niukkanen's "Sauna Diplomacy" — the only comedy among eight projects competing in the inaugural Nordic Genre Lab.

"We believe that the project was a clear stand out," said jury members Noëmie Devide (Goodfellas), Sydney Brumfield (Searchlight) and screenwriter Espen Auka, calling the concept "very original, fun and commercially viable."

Set in summer 1970, the story follows diligent civil servant Heikki, who hosts a high-ranking Soviet diplomat at his family's lakeside cottage. The weekend becomes a game of manipulation and power games.

"It's set during Finlandization, when Finland during the Cold War was a pre-western democracy, as long as the Soviet Union would tell us what to do!" quipped Niukkanen ("Fucking Bunnies," "Money Shot"), a self-proclaimed creator of content with "bad taste, done with good taste."

"I recommend reading Teemu's script! It's fuckingly funny – topical, rowdy, thrillingly violent, yet a much-needed guide on how to stand up against tyrants," said producer Oskari Huttu, who produces with John Lundsten for Tack Films. Nordisk Film has pre-bought the project for the Nordics; production is set to start in 2028.

Documentary and Industry Awards

The €3,000 AVEK Best Documentary Award, decided by IDFA's Isabel Arrate Fernandez, director Einari Paakkanen and the Estonian Film Institute's Filipp Kruusvall, went to Anna Antsalo ("Walk the Tideline") for "Darkness Counts," produced by Venla Hellstedt.

The award "goes to a project that turns the greatest enemy of filmmaking – darkness – into a visually captivating element," the jury said.

Four additional industry awards reflected the Finnish Film Affair's expanding collaborations with European markets:

• Elin Grönblom's ("Bloodsuckers") six-part comedy thriller "Body in the Closet," produced by Mia Oikanen for Warner Bros Int'l Television Production Finland, won the Midpoint Series Consulting Award. It follows a shy theater prop master who accidentally becomes a killer while trying to please everyone around her, especially her narcissistic mom. "Yes, there are murders, but no one cares about the murderer and murdered people – they only care about themselves!" said Grönblom.
• The Midpoint Institute's Feature Consulting Award went to Hedda Mjøn's courtroom drama "Big Deal" for Oda Kruse, in which four characters' lives change irrevocably through a single trial. SF Studios has boarded the Norwegian-Finnish-Estonian co-production.
• The inaugural Producers Network Award from the Marché du Film went to Aleksi Delikouras' ("Nerd:DragonSlayer666") "Babyface," a modern-day "Karate Kid" in which a 13-year-old boy befriends eccentric pro wrestler Killer Joe. "I want to offer a different image of masculinity, and show that vulnerability is not a weakness," said Delikouras.
• It's Alive Films' psycho horror "Linden Lane 6" by Josefina Rautiainen won the Göteborg Film Festival Award. It centers on a novelist who moves into a building inhabited only by 13 women. Anita Hyppönen produces; she also received the Connecting Cottbus Producers Exchange accolade.

Searchlight's Sydney Brumfield praised the selection. Finnish Film Affair organizers "did an excellent job in selecting the projects because the quality was amazing," she said in Helsinki. Tonje Hardensen, head of the Norwegian Int'l Film Festival, agreed: "It's been a very strong year and many projects stood out," said Hardersen, who listed "11 Hours" among her top projects.