Preparing an application:
- Study the grant announcement and the support guide carefully.
- Log in to our application system with your Suomi.fi e-Identification.
- Fill in an application in the application system. The application consists of
1) an application form
2) the application’s appendices
3) the applicant’s appendices - Submit the application before the deadline.
Whenever you are in contact with us regarding your application, mention the application number and the title of the film in your message!
1. General
The aim of the support
The aim of the Finnish Film Foundation is to promote the diverse and professional production of films in Finland. The Foundation’s values include participation, pluralism, cultural diversity and artistic freedom.
The purpose of the support is to promote the broad and extensive supply and distribution of Finnish film productions through various distribution channels and platforms as well as to advance the availability and audience share of Finnish films.
To whom?
Support is granted primarily to films that have received the Foundation’s development and production support. Support may be granted to a professional distribution company registered in Finland who owns the film’s Finnish distribution rights, or to a production company that manages the film’s rights in Finland.
The applicant should be the party who has commissioned the audio description or subtitling for the hearing impaired.
For what purpose and how much?
The support is intended to cover the costs of audio description and subtitling for the hearing impaired.
Audio description and subtitling for the hearing impaired are obligatory for feature films and documentaries that have received the marketing and distribution support from the Foundation.
If the film’s dialogue is mostly in language other than Finnish or Swedish, the Foundation may exempt the applicant from the duty to produce an audio description for the film. Even in these cases, the subtitling for the hearing impaired is mandatory and one can apply support for it.
Audio description and subtitling for the hearing impaired are not mandatory for international co-production films that have Finland as a minority co-production country, even if they have received marketing and distribution support from the Foundation.
Amount of the support
The maximum amount of support is €7,000.
Previous support decisions may be viewed from the Foundation’s support decisions page.
How and when to apply?
Marketing and distribution support is applied for by submitting an application in the application system.
The application consist of:
- an application form
- the application’s appendices
- the applicant’s appendices
Prior to submitting an application, you must carefully read the relevant grant announcement and support guide.
The call for the material and marketing support is ongoing. The processing time is approximately 3–10 weeks after the application and all the required appendices have been submitted.
The Board of the Finnish Film Foundation has decision meetings about once a month.
Support applications are handled by:
Ilmari Arnkil
Exhibition and Distribution Specialist
• support for cinemas, distribution and festivals in Finland
+358 9 6220 3035
Updating appendices and information in the application system
Please note that the Foundation’s application system does not automatically inform the Foundation’s staff if you upload new appendices or update your information. Send an email about the changes to the film commissioner or other person handling the application.
Whenever you email the Foundation about your application, please state your application number and title of your film.
In addition to the obligatory appendices, you may add complementary appendices to your application .
If the drop menu in the Application’s appendices does not have a suitable appendix type, choose Other appendices (“Muut liitteet”).
Openness of documents
According to the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), a document submitted to the Finnish Film Foundation is public. Documents may also be designated confidential under the law or access to them may be discretionary. Confidential official documents include documents that contain information about private business or trade secrets.
What requirements must the applicant meet?
A prerequisite for a favourable support decision is that the applicant has complied with possible previous support agreements and conditions set for the granting of support.
During the decision-making process, the Foundation may ask additional information from the applicant. Support cannot be granted if the application is insufficient and the required information is not uploaded into the application system despite requests to do so.
How are the applications evaluated?
Support is discretionary. The evaluation and comparison of the applications is based on an overall assessment that considers the purpose of the funds, the grounds mentioned in the grant announcement and available funds in the budget.
How are the decisions made?
The Board of the Finnish Film Foundation decides on the support based on the presentation of the CEO.
The Foundation aims to make decisions in 3–10 weeks after the deadline.
All applicants receive a written decision that contains the conditions of the support and a claim for corrections with instructions. You will get an email when the decision is made to the email address given in the Applicant’s information.
The decision is based on the act of government funding for the advancement of cinema (1174/2018), the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001) and the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003).
2. Application
Fill out an application in the application system consisting of the following:
- Application form
- Application’s appendices
- Applicant’s appendices
Obligatory appendices of the application
You can submit the application once all the obligatory appendices are uploaded to the application system.
A signed distribution contract
A cost statement drafted according to the Foundation’s template
The applicant’s appendices
Before the deadline, upload the appendices pertaining to the production company to the the Applicant’s appendices.
A verified and audited financial statement covering the latest financial period
A valid extract from the Trade Register
A certificate of paid taxes
A certificate of paid pension insurance premiums
A current list of shareholders (Limited Liability Companies Act, chapter 3)
Audit duty
The Audit Act contains regulations about when a registered corporation is not under the obligation to select an auditor.
3. Decision and support payment
After the decision made by the Finnish Film Foundation’s Board has been processed, you will receive a message to the email address you have given in the Applicant’s information.
The decision can be read in the application’s Decision (“Päätös”) view.
After the decision has been made, the Application’s appendices folder is closed.
The support for audio description and subtitling for the hearing impaired is paid to the recipient’s Finnish bank account in one instalment after the decision.
4. Oversight
Finnish Film Foundation oversees and supervises how the support is used. The Foundation has the right to use audits to oversee payments and how the support is used. The Foundation may also postpone payments during audits.
Organising project oversight
The recipient must maintain their accounts according to the Accounting Act and the Accounting Ordinance and follow sound accounting procedures. The recipient must organise the project’s audit trail – the link between the recipient’s financial statement and the project’s statement of charges – in a way that it can be reliably, completely and transparently verified by a third party.
The Foundation always reserves the right to fully audit the recipient’s accounting and management.
The recipient is obligated to provide their accountant and auditor the film’s support agreement and all appendices. If the recipient neglects these duties, the Foundation has the right to deliver the documents to the accountant and auditor named in the support agreement.
The recipient must observe and notify their accountant and their auditor of the Foundation’s instructions and guidelines (2021, pdf in Finnish) concerning the film industry’s accounting, financial statement and auditing principles.
Disclosure requirement
The recipient must provide the Finnish Film Foundation the correct and sufficient information to enable oversight of the support decision’s conditions.
The recipient must inform the Foundation of all changes that influence the way the support is used without delay. Changes that influence the use of the support include changes in the project’s quality, breadth and funding. The Foundation also always has the right to receive information about the project’s current status and follow the project’s progress.
A written report of changes must be emailed to the film commissioner who presented the support to the Foundation’s Board. The basis for the report is the support agreement between the recipient and the Foundation which can only be changed with written permission from the Foundation.
5. Halting payment and repayment
If the recipient does not repay Finnish Film Foundation according to the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers, section 20, repayment of the support or a portion of it will proceed according to section 9 and section 10 of the act of government transfers to promote film culture.
Section 9 Halting payments
The Arts Promotion Center Finland is responsible for halting payments. Finnish Film Foundation must immediately propose to the Arts Promotion Center Finland that the government transfer be halted if the Foundation has discovered information that warrants the halting of the payments. The Arts Promotion Center decides on the halting of payments and the continuation or halting of government transfers based on the Foundation’s suggestion.
The decision of the halting of payments must be made immediately and, for special reasons, during at least two calendar years after the Finnish Film Foundation’s suggestion. Finnish Film Foundation must include sufficient and essential information to make a decision to halt payments. The Arts Promotion Center Finland also has the right to receive the necessary information from the Finnish Film Foundation to halt payments without regard to confidentiality agreements.
Section 10 Repayment
The Arts Promotion Center Finland is responsible for halting payments. Finnish Film Foundation must immediately inform the Arts Promotion Center Finland of facts that would or should warrant government transfer repayments. The Arts Promotion Center Finland makes the repayment decision.
The decision of repayments must be made immediately and, for special reasons, during at least two calendar years after the Finnish Film Foundation’s suggestion. Finnish Film Foundation must include sufficient and essential information to make a decision of repayments. The Arts Promotion Center Finland also has the right to receive the necessary information from the Finnish Film Foundation for repayments without regard to confidentiality agreements.
Finnish Film Foundation’s grants are based on the act on the government’s support for the promotion of film culture (1174/2018). The grants apply the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001). The Foundation follows the Administrative Procedure Act, the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the Language Act (423/2004), the Sámi Language Act (1086/2003), the Archives Act (831/1994), the Act on Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector (13/2003) and the Privacy Protection Act (9/2018).
According to the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), a document submitted to the Finnish Film Foundation is public. Documents may also be designated confidential under the law or access to them may be discretionary. Confidential official documents include documents that contain information about private business or trade secrets.