‘Halima,’ First Finnish Pic Ever by Black Female Filmmaker, Bags Fiction Project Prize, ‘Sauna Diplomacy’ Named Best Genre Project at Finnish Film Affair
Naima Mohamud’s warm comedy “Halima”, about a 10-year-old Somali girl adapting to life in 1998 Finland, won the Best Fiction Project prize at Helsinki’s Finnish Film Affair. The project marks a milestone as the first Finnish feature directed by a black woman, highlighting a previously underrepresented perspective in Finnish cinema.
Produced by It’s Alive Films, No-Office Films and Ireland’s Vico Films, the film draws on Mohamud’s family and childhood experiences and is scheduled for delivery in autumn 2027. Norway’s hostage drama “11 Hours” won the €3,000 Best Nordic Film Award, while Teenu Niukkanen’s Cold War-era comedy “Sauna Diplomacy” received the €2,500 Best Genre Project prize; Finland’s “Darkness Counts” was named Best Documentary Project.
- “Halima” won Finnish Film Affair’s Best Fiction Project prize.
- It is Finland’s first feature directed by a black woman.
- “11 Hours” and “Sauna Diplomacy” also took major awards.
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