Jalmari Helander (1976) started directing commercials in 2003 and quickly won awards for his work for Nokia, Finnish Defence Forces and rapper Redrama, among others. He made his first feature “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale” in 2010 based on his short films in 2003 and 2005. The film was a huge success and secured worldwide distribution as well as the Piazza Grande award at Locarno, the best director award at Sitges and the audience award at Brussels among many other prizes. His second feature “Big Game” was an action adventure set in the Finnish wilderness and starred Samuel L. Jackson, Jim Broadbent, Felicity Huffman and Ray Stevenson. It had a strong reception after its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and sold out worldwide. Helander has also directed several TV series and was nominated for an International Emmy for “Wingman” (2019). Helander’s previous film ,“Sisu” (2022), got great reviews, was a box-office hit in U.S. and was released worldwide.
Filmography:
Rare Exports (Kaotatud kaup ehk jaht jõuluvanadele, PÖFF 2010), Big Game (Suur mäng, 2014), Sisu (2022), Sisu 2 (2025)