Finnish producer Inka Hietala is launching Helsinki-based Into Films with a slate of film and TV projects including Flowers Of Farewell, that she is showcasing at Goteborg’s Nordic Film Market this week.
“We’re dedicated to showcasing new voices and celebrating diverse talent, creating bold, culturally resonant stories that challenge and inspire audiences worldwide,” said Hietala.
Finnish producer Petri Kemppinen joins Hietala as a shareholder and senior advisor at Into Films; the company will collaborate on projects with Kemppinen’s own Good Hand Production.
Flowers Of Farewell is the debut feature of Finnish-Bulgarian feature Pavel Andonov. The €2.1m project will be presented in the Discovery strand of the Nordic Film Market this week (January 29-31).
The film depicts a young woman who leaves her life as an aspiring DJ to travel to Sofia after the death of her estranged mother. Andonov’s short film Blue Note played at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand short film festival in 2022.
Into Films is also preparing Kaya Pakaslahti’s feature debut Other People’s Feelings, a love triangle comedy with co-written by Screen Rising Star Scotland Jamie Fraser. Pakaslahti is an established TV director for Finnish series including teenage comedy Limbo and Linda’s Room.
Into Films is also developing a series called Candy Shop by Finnish-Thai filmmaker Tomi Rantanen. It is about a young gay man who, after being dumped from his first long-term relationship, explores the mysterious world of queer dating apps and rediscovers his sexuality.
Track record
Hietala comes to Into Films from Ilona Tolmunen’s Made, the Finnish production company behind titles including Isabella Eklof’s 2023 feature Kalak and Lauri-Matti Parppei’s upcoming A Light That Never Goes Out, in post-production. Prior to Made, she worked for six years at Citizen Jane Productions and Aurora Studios, connecting with Kemppinen at the latter.
“My passion for working with diverse talent both behind and in front of the camera stems from my own experience of witnessing the lack of representation in the industry,” said Swedish-born Hietala who is of dual Finnish-Filipino nationality. “An essential step toward change is to diversify the pool of creators and actively support underrepresented talent.”
The Nordic Film Market is part of Goteborg Film Festival, which runs until Sunday February 2.
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