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Stormskerry Maja, a sweeping period drama about a woman’s struggle for survival on a remote 19th-century island, was the big winner at the 2025 Jussi Film Awards, Finland’s equivalent to the Oscars, taking home six awards, including best film and best director for Tiina Lymi. The film’s star Amanda Jansson also took Jussi for best lead performance.

The Jussis were handed out at a gala ceremony in Helsinki on Friday.

Other top winners included Apple Thieves, Missile, My Name Is Dingo, and Once Upon a Time in a Forest, each earning two awards. Notably, this year introduced two new acting categories: ensemble of the year and breakthrough role of the year, reflecting the evolving recognition of performances in Finnish cinema. Additionally, the inaugural visual effects of the year award was presented, marking a milestone for technical achievements in the industry.

The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, known as the “Concrete Jussi,...

Box office revenue in Europe slipped just 1% last year to €6.6 billion ($6.86 billion), far less than in Germany, which saw a drop of 6.5% to €868.4 million due to a lack of blockbusters and major sport events competing for audiences.

Cinema attendance held firm across the continent as admissions slid only 2% to to 841 million due to the success of local productions in many markets, according to preliminary figures from the European Audiovisual Observatory published on Thursday.

The combined 27 member states that make up the European Union saw a 2% decline in box office to €5 billion as admissions fell 3% to 640 million.

Germany fared worse, however, with a 5.8% drop in admissions to 90.1 million compared to 2023, the German Federal Film Board (Ffa) reported on Wednesday.

With figures stabilizing near 2023 levels, cinema attendance in Europe “appears to have settled at around 24% below pre-pandemic levels (2017–2019), suggesting that the post-pandemic rebound has run its course and that the market may have reached a new equilibrium,...

European cinema box office and admissions fell slightly in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to figures released today by European trade group the International Union of Cinemas (Unic).

Admissions decreased by 1.4% across Unic’s 39 territories, with box office down just 0.3%. Total admissions were 975.5m, with box office just over €7.2bn.

Unic reports that the US actors and writers strikes “had a lingering impact in the first half of the year”, but that takings remained on par with 2023 “despite the tough context”.

Admissions were up in multiple Unic territories, including UK-Ireland, France, Greece, Turkey and Ukraine.

National films

With a knock-on delay on US releases,...

After the hopeful signs of recovery over the last two years, attendance in all five markets dropped again in 2024, by a small margin of 3% in Denmark to nearly 13% in Norway. Post Covid effects and Hollywood strikes that led to a lack of U.S. tentpoles were blamed for the decline, however mitigated in some territories by the strong performance of domestic fare.

In Finland, local titles secured a record 31.6% market share, with the local epic love story “Stormskerry Maja” leading the charge. In Sweden, the local champion was the heart-warming documentary “The Last Journey” in which the TV personalities Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson (aka Filip & Fredrik) travel to France to rekindle the zest for life of Filip’s aging dad. The Swedish Oscar entry largely contributed to the country’s 22% market-share and biggest ticket sales in seven years.

In Iceland, it was Hollywood-Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur who delivered the...

Outsider Pictures has struck a deal with Berlin-based international sales agent Picture Tree International for U.S. distribution rights to a pair of Scandinavian dramas, “Stormskerry Maja” and “The Missile.” Both films will get limited theatrical runs next spring.

Outsider Pictures, founded and headed by Paul Hudson, has found success with several Scandinavian films in the past, such as “Adam’s Apples” and “Helene.”

“Although the main focus is on Latin and Spanish cinema, we remain open to good films from anywhere in the world,” Hudson explained to Variety.

“‘Stormskerry Maja’ is that classic ‘they don’t make them like this anymore’ film,” the Outsider boss said before alluding to the film’s tremendous local box office success; “Half a million Finns can’t be wrong.”

A logline for the film reads: “A young girl in the harshest corner of Earth. Death, war, and love shape the girl into a modern woman.

Exclusive: Queen of F*cking Everything, the first show to emerge from the New8 European broadcasting collective, has sold around Europe.

Rabbit Films, which is producing and selling Queen of F*cking Everything, has sold the Finnish show to Zdf (Germany), Npo (Netherlands), Vrt (Belgium), Nrk (Norway) and Ruv (Iceland) on the eve of a Content London showcase.

Written and directed by Akvaariorakkaus star Tiina Lymi, Queen of F*cking Everything follows high society fixture Linda Saarniluoto (Laura Malmivaara), who wakes up one morning to find her husband Mikael (Jussi Nikkilä) missing, probably dead, leaving her in debt to the tune of millions of dollars. Forced to steal to survive, she starts from small-time theft but is then drawn deeper into Helsinki’s criminal underworld, until she rises to be given the moniker that comprises the show’s title.

Producer Minna Haapkylä said the series was pitched to Finnish pubcaster...

Audiovisual Producers Finland (Apfi) has unveiled its Mipcom slate.

The “diverse” lineup “highlights the extraordinary storytelling coming out of Finland,” teased executive director Laura Kuulasmaa.

The second season of the documentary series “Untold Arctic Wars” will focus on Cold War espionage and military conflicts in the region.

After the blockbuster success of the first season, which found placements in almost every major territory across the Americas, Europe, Mena and Asia, Tvf will be partnering again with Ntrnz to bring this latest season to buyers around the world, said Sam Joyce, Tvf’s senior acquisitions manager.

“Factual buyers are hungry for fresh angles on contemporary history and this series offers that in spades. With brand new testimony and newly unearthed archive, it promises to challenge our understanding of the global distribution of power during the Cold War years. This is exactly the kind of high-end, globally-minded series that broadcasters are clamoring for,...

Berlin-based Picture Tree Intl. has acquired the international sales rights, excluding the Nordic countries, for the Finnish daughter-father comedy “Butterflies” (Perhoset).

“Butterflies” is directed by Jenni Toivoniemi, based on a screenplay by Anna Brotkin.

Set against the backdrop of Finland’s vibrant Tango Festival, “Butterflies” follows the journey of Siiri, a world-weary 29-year-old woman, and her relentlessly optimistic father, Petri, as they navigate their own truths amidst the chaos. Ultimately, the true dance they engage in is one of self-discovery.

Siiri is played by Aksa Korttila, whose credits include “Sibelius Continuum,” “The Sixth Time” and “The Year of the Wolf.” Petri is played by Jani Volanen, who was in “Hatching,” “Homecoming” and “Dogs Don’t Wear Pants.” Leea Klemola, who appeared in “The Mine,” “The Midwife” and “Last Cowboy Standing,” plays Siiri’s politician boss, who is in the midst of a marital crises.

“Butterflies” is produced by Miia Haavisto of Tekele Productions,...

Exclusive: Picture Tree International (Pti) has acquired international sales rights for Icelandic box office hit Grand Finale (Fullt hús) for an EFM launch.

The Nordic comedy is the debut feature of Icelandic actor, writer and producer Sigurjon Kjartansson who is best known internationally as the showrunner of hit series Trapped and co-creator of Netflix’s Katia.

Have premiered domestically on January 26, Grand Finale is currently at the top of Iceland’s box office charts with a ticket share of 28% on the opening weekend.

The dark comedy revolves around a chamber orchestra working out of a rundown theatre in Reykjavik on a shoe-string budget.

When the annual grant from the city comes is to an end the orchestra hires a world-renowned cellist in order to secure their future. The media goes wild and money starts to flow back in.

The cellist turns out to be an execrable character but it’s...

Exclusive: Picture Tree International (Pti) has boarded sales on religious cult drama Raptures (Rörelser) about the notorious real-life Korpela Movement which took hold in the remote Torne Valley on the border of Sweden and Finland in the 1930s.

Written and directed by Swedish filmmaker Jon Blåhed, the film is inspired by true events captured in the novel Dagning; röd! by award-winning minority Meänkieli language author Bengt Pohjanen.

The drama, which is currently in the second half of its shoot in northern Finland and Sweden, will be the first feature shot in Meänkieli, which is spoken by some 70,000 people in the Torne Valley but was suppressed by the Swedish state for decades.

Blåhed took further inspiration from his own family history connected to the strict Læstadian movement in the Torne Valley region where he grew up.

The drama revolves around Rakel, a devout Christian believer whose husband Teodor forms a liberal...

Picture Tree Intl. has boarded international sales rights of “Unsinkable” (Synkefri), written and directed by Christian Andersen, and has debuted the trailer (below).

The film is set in the small fishing town of Hirtshals, Denmark, where life is intricately intertwined with the sea, as it both takes and gives. It is based on a true event in northern Denmark in 1981, the sinking of the rescue boat RF2 during one of its initial missions resulting in the loss of nine lives.

Mainly shot on location and with local extras and witnesses of the 1981 accident, the film is also a personal project of the director, whose mother lost her husband, the father of his older brothers.

“Unsinkable” is Andersen’s second feature after “None Shall Sleep” (2019). Co-writer Martin Strange-Hansen won an Oscar as director and writer for “This Charming Man” (2003) for best live action short film and was again nominated for the...

Niclas Larsson’s “Mother, Couch” was awarded the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at Goteborg, taking home the considerable amount of Sek 400,000.

Led by Ewan McGregor – this year’s recipient of the Honorary Dragon Award – the U.S.-Swedish-Danish co-production also features Ellen Burstyn and “Bones and All” breakout Taylor Russell, making it one of the starriest Goteborg winners in recent years.

“My therapist was wrong! I pitched him this idea a few years ago and he said: ‘Don’t do it.’ I am from here and this festival has meant the world to me. Standing on this stage is a bit surreal,” said Larsson.

Jurors Lena Endre, Ramata-Toulaye Sy, William Spetz, Tonia Noyabrova and Anna Novion appreciated the way it shows “how difficult it is to let go of the past, accept loss and finally embrace the future.” They praised “original and bold storytelling, with a lot of humor,...

Finnish director Tiina Lymi decided to “go big” for “Stormskerry Maja,” set in the 19th century. Based on a series of books by Anni Blomqvist, it has been selected for International Film Festival Rotterdam and Goteborg.

“It had to be done this way. It’s about life and death, love, sorrow and lust. Big emotions. I really respect my producers’ decision to commit to this budget. €4 million is nothing in the U.S., but it’s a lot in Finland.”

In the film – produced by Markus Selin, Jukka Helle and Hanna Virolainen for Solar Films and sold by Picture Tree Intl. – a young peasant woman, married off to a man she barely knows, moves to a remote island. Her new environment isn’t exactly welcoming, but Maja falls for it quickly – and for her new husband Janne.

Lymi shot the film on Åland Islands. “It’s a crazy place in...

Picture Tree International has boarded international sales and debuted the trailer for Miia Tervo’s upcoming comedy “The Missile,” set to world premiere at Göteborg’s just-announced Nordic Competition.

Produced by Finland’s Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen (Elokuvayhtio Komeetta) and co-produced by Estonia’s Johanna Paulson and Evelin Penttilä (Stellar Film), the film will be distributed in Scandinavia by Aurora Studios. Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Tommi Korpela, Pyry Kähkönen and Jarkko Niemi are also in the cast.

Tervo’s second feature after the award-winning “Aurora” – which opened the Swedish fest back in 2019 – teases a “uniquely crafted mix of political satire, heartfelt comedy and kitchen-sink drama, rooted in Northern brevity and melancholy,” according to its description.

Starring Oona Airola (pictured above in a first-look image), the film kicks off in Finkand’s Lapland in 1984, when an unexpected Soviet missile incident disrupts the tranquil life of single mother Niina.

Soon, she joins a...

International Film Festival Rotterdam has revealed that Belgian cinematographer Grimm Vandekerckhove will be the recipient of the fifth annual Robby Müller Award, which pays homage to the craft of artists working behind the lens in the spirit of the celebrated cinematographer.

Vandekerckhove is “known for delicately capturing the inner lives of characters,” the festival said, such as a cleaning lady on a late-night journey in “Ghost Tropic” or the encounter of a foreign construction worker and a moss researcher in “Here,” both directed by Bas Devos. He also shot Stephan Streker’s “A Wedding,” about a teenager forced into an arranged marriage.

“With profound commitment and a wondrous tranquillity he captures details and hidden shades of everyday existence in his own singular way that mirrors the emotionally moving images of Robby Müller,” the jury stated.

In other announcements, the festival, which runs Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, revealed that the jury for the...

Finnish helmer Tiina Lymi has found the cast for her upcoming period drama “Stormskerry Maja,” set in the 19th century. “Thin Blue Line” star Amanda Jansson will play the headstrong lead, with Linus Troedsson cast as Maja’s husband Janne.

Jonna Järnefelt, Tobias Zilliacus, Amanda Kilpeläinen Arvidsson will also star, joined by Tony Doyle and Desmond Eastwood, who appeared in “Normal People.” The film will be shot in Swedish and English.

Based on a series of novels written by Anni Blomqvist, “Stormskerry Maja” tells the story of Maja and her family as they move to a barren and remote island. Their everyday life is a relentless battle for survival, but Maja stands her ground. Despite all the setbacks, she stays in Stormskerry, where her roots are.

Produced by Markus Selin, Jukka Helle and Hanna Virolainen for Solar Films, it will be distributed locally by Nordisk Films. The film will premiere...