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Miia Tervo’s “The Missile,” an absurdist dramatic comedy based on the real-life story of a Soviet missile landing in Finnish Lapland in 1984, took home the top prize Thursday at the Finnish Film Affair, an annual industry event running parallel to the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy.

“The Missile” was one of five fiction feature works in progress that were pitched to an audience of industry guests in Helsinki on Sept. 21, during the Finnish Film Affair’s showcase of local and regional projects. The sophomore feature of Finnish director Tervo, known for the female-centered romantic comedy “Aurora,” the film is produced by Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen of Helsinki-based Elokuvayhtiö Komeetta, with Stellar Film co-producing.

“The Missile” tells the empowering story of an abused single mother working at a small-town newspaper who gets drawn into the investigation surrounding the missile crash, which upends life in a small northern village.

The Helsinki showcase has become a must-attend event for the Nordic industry.

Miia Tervo’s absurdist comedy drama The Missile walked away with the €3,000 prize for the best fiction project award at Finland’s Finnish Film Affair, which draws to a close today (September 22) in Helsinki.

The Missile is now in post-production. It is set in 1984 in Finnish Lapland, where a single mother of two children is trying to get over her violent ex-husband. She finds herself working at a local newspaper, as reports come in that a Soviet Union missile has shot across the Finnish border.

The project is...

Finnish director Marika Harjusaari makes her feature debut with the female-centered, 19th-century-set horror “The Mire,” which follows a woman who must use her mysterious powers to save a Finnish village from a malevolent spirit. The film will be presented this week as part of a showcase of upcoming Finnish titles at the Finnish Film Affair.

Written by Ilona Ahti, the screenwriter behind Alli Haapasalo’s 2022 Sundance Audience Award winner “Girl Picture,” and produced by Mika Ritalahti (Silva Mysterium Oy), also in Park City last year with Hanna Bergholm’s Midnight selection “Hatching,” “The Mire” centers on an outcast midwife who harbors a terrible secret: She leaves unwanted newborns in a nearby swamp.

After falling in love with a young priest, she tries to leave her dark past behind. But when a strange woodland spirit arrives in the village, causing a series of unexplained disappearances, Iiris must use a powerful force...

New projects from Jenni Toivoniemi, Jon Blåhed, Erol Mintaş and Ester Martin Bergsmark are among selection

The Finnish Film Affair (Ffa), Helsinki International Film Festival’s industry strand, has unveiled the line-up for its market showcase of Nordic films and Finnish series running September 20-22.

Among the 31 projects selected is Jenni Toivoniemi’s comedy Butterflies, the director’s second feature after Games People Play which was also presented at the Ffa.

Also being showcased is Jon Blåhed’s new feature Raptures; Erol Mintaş’ Earth Song; Ester Martin Bergsmark’s Land Of Ferns; and Marika Harjusaari’s The Mire from the producer of Hatching.

The Eurimages Lab Award at Haugesund has gone to Norwegian director Guro Bruusgaard for Him.

Norwegian director Guro Bruusgaard has won the Eurimages Lab iAward at Haugesund for Him.

The award—which is only eligible for a select group of work-in-progress projects that are more experimental in form or content – comes with a grant worth $55,500.

Him looks at the roles of contemporary men in society through stories of a boy, a 30-year-old man and a 60-year old man during one day in Oslo. The jury said Him offered a “relevant discussion made in a witty, intelligent and compassionate style”. No sales company is attached yet.