Films for international festivals

We draft a festival strategy for each film in cooperation with the production company. If the film has a sales company, we also contact them.

The preparation of a festival strategy begins with a meeting to determine, among other things:

• What goals do we have for the film’s international festival distribution?
• Which aspects of the film might attract international interest? What is special about this film? What is its marketing focus?
• Does the film have a sales company or is it currently negotiating with sales companies?
• Could the film be presented at a work-in-progress event before its premiere?
• Is it possible to offer the film to Finnish film showcases or to Finnish film weeks?
• Into which film festivals should the Foundation submit the film?

Submitting films to international festivals

Our festival strategy determines the festivals to which we submit the film. We cover the entry fee for the festivals agreed upon in the festival strategy. The filmmaker is also free to submit the film to other festivals. It is, however, always a good idea to consider carefully which festival’s profile suits your film.

Materials to be submitted

In order for the International Department to be able to submit films to festivals and market them through its own channels and materials, the producer must supply promotional materials as early as possible. All documents must be in English. We will provide you with a list of necessary materials.

Nordic House in Festival de Cannes 2024

Markets and The Five Nordics

We participate in film markets at the Berlin, Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals together with other Nordic film institutes as part of The Five Nordics organisation (previously Scandinavian Films). The Nordic countries also collaborate at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France, the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA) and the Nordisk Panorama event in Sweden.

At the festivals’ market events, we meet with international film festival programmers and other film industry professionals and introduce them to upcoming Finnish films and the Finnish film industry in general.

Works-in-progress

Major film festivals’ programmers want to know about interesting up-coming films as early as possible. Works-in-Progress events are an essential way of bringing a film to the attention of programmers. 

Event organisers often ask the Foundation for tips on interesting productions. We can also advise producers on how to get their film to a works-in-progress event.

Programmer visits

We invite international film festival programmers to visit Finland. The aim is to give them a comprehensive and varied view of the Finnish film scene, to promote the selection of films for festivals and to help Finnish filmmakers create personal contacts with festival programmers.

Programmers are invited to Tampere Film Festival, DocPoint in Helsinki and other important events. Some programmers of major festivals visit the Foundation according to their own schedules. The Foundation also cooperates with the Finnish Film Affair event in inviting international guests.

Many Finnish films seeking international markets have signed a contract with an international sales company or agency. Today, there are also sales companies specialising in short films, both in Finland and internationally.

The International Department cooperates with sales companies and production companies in drafting and implementing the festival strategy. How we operate is always agreed upon case-by-case.

It is always worthwhile communicating to your sales company the services and support we provide. With the help of our project support, you can, for example, purchase market screenings and produce marketing materials.

The International Department also has direct, confidential relationships with various major festivals. We can arrange for the copies of your film to be delivered to festivals.

The subtitles made for Finnish film weeks organized by the Finnish Film Foundation can also be used for commercial purposes.

The International Department is responsible for distributing screening copies of films to international festivals. Distribution takes place mainly through a digital cloud service, but physical DCP and film copies are also still used. The screening copy is transferred safely online to the festival server through the cloud service.

Digital distribution makes material delivery ecological and quick. In practice, screening copies of films remain in cinema-standard DCP format but, instead of individual hard drives, they are placed on a protected server from which they can be uploaded to a digital cloud service and downloaded to festivals around the world. Transfers through cloud services are also easy and safe as files can be submitted with password protection without fear of damage or breakdown.

The gradual abandoning of screening copies has a major impact in the Foundation’s carbon footprint as, in the past, physical screening copies used to be transported all over the world, often as air cargo. Digital distribution also allows for the simultaneous circulation of screening copies and the screening of films around the world, as the festivals no longer have to share a limited number of physical copies with each other.

One of our areas of operation is organising Finnish film weeks and showcases all over the world. Annual events take place in St. Petersburg, Tokyo and Paris.

Finnish showcases are also held in annually changing countries. These events always involve a local partner: a festival, cinema, film archive or other organisation with contacts to the local audience. We also cooperate closely with Finnish embassies and Finnish cultural institutes in various countries and also organise networking events.

Finland has also been featured in joint Nordic showcases in various parts of the world within the framework of Scandinavian Films cooperation.

The Foundation’s International Department organises retrospective screenings of the works of selected directors at international film festivals and events. There is high demand for films by Aki Kaurismäki, Pirjo Honkasalo, Markku Lehmuskallio and Mika Taanila, to name but a few.

The National Audiovisual Institute is responsible for the statutory archiving of Finnish films.

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