Focus on Finland shines a spotlight on Finnish drama and documentary content

Press release from Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI

Focus on Finland is the first joint export venture for the key players in the Finnish Audiovisual Industry. The project’s aim is to strengthen the promotion of Finnish content in international industry events and increase the opportunities for Finnish content creators to get international funding, sales and distribution.

Focus on Finland promotes the visibility and international awareness of Finnish content by attending panel discussions and keynotes in international industry events, as well as by organizing showcases, and by creating opportunities to pitch projects and to network.

In the drama series scheme, the partners joining Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI are Yle, Finnish Film Foundation, Elisa Viihde and Film in Finland. In the documentaries scheme, the partners are Yle, Finnish Film Foundation and AVEK. This joint venture of promotional events is unique in the history of Finnish Audiovisual industry. APFI will oversee the practical execution of the venture.

“Finnish drama production is experiencing a strengthening boom, and our series are getting successfully noticed internationally. It’s fantastic and very important that we, the key players in the industry, work together in promoting Finnish drama. Focus on Finland will support and boost the status of our content and content creators by increasing interest in the increasingly expanding and competitive marketplace,” state Focus on Finland drama partners.

The first event for Focus on Finland is Gothenburg’s TV Drama Vision, which starts today. Laura Kuulasmaa from APFI will represent the Finnish audiovisual industry, and representatives from Finnish channels and streamers will be introducing and discussing their current content offerings. Other content events focusing on series which Focus on Finland will attend this spring are Berlinale Series Market and Series Mania Forum. Planned serial drama events for autumn are MIA Market in October in Rome and Content London in November.

For documentaries, the networking event planned for Berlinale had to be cancelled due to Covid. The next events focusing on documentaries are Cannes Docs and the Sunny Side of the Doc. Other planned events for international promotion of Finnish documentaries are Finnish Film Affair in 2022 and Berlinale, Sunny Side of the Doc, Doc Lisboa and Hot Docs in 2023.

“We are proud that for the very first time, the key players in the audiovisual industry have joined forces in the Focus on Finland venture, and we are excited to see what can be achieved by the initiative. The current Finnish documentary film offering is courageous and distinctive and challenges the viewer to see the world from a different angle,” summarize Focus on Finland Documentary partners.