Aino Suni
Aino Suni (1985) is a Helsinki-based director and screenwriter who directs fiction as well as documentaries. Suni’s debut fiction feature Heartbeast tells a story about Elina, an aspiring rapper who falls desperately in love with her step-sister. The film is a co-production between France, Finland and Germany, and had its world premiere in Gothenburg Film Festival in 2022. The film won two Jussi awards and was nominated for four.
Suni’s previous feature film is an intimate documentary Never Again about rapper Mercedes Bentso and her empowering journey to recovery. Suni has also directed several short films. For example Suni and Sonya Lindfors’ directorial collaboration Shake! is part of a short film series Force of Habit, which won the Finnish State film award in 2020.
Anders E. Larsson
Anders E. Larsson is a Swedish film critic, journalist, poet, and festival director of Lund Fantastic Film Festival. He works as a musician, film composer, and actor.
Over the years he has been editor-in-chief for culture magazines, culture editor for several daily newspapers, and producer for a classical music program on Swedish national radio. He composed the score for the Guldbagge awarded feature film Garden Lane, and he is a member of indie rock trio Slowmotion Club, Americana outfit Alabama Moonshine Co. and solo project The Sad Highway.
As a member of FIPRESCI (the International Federation of Film Critics), he recurringly serves on festival juries. Previous juries include festivals in Berlin, Seattle, Palm Springs, Kerala and Valladolid. He is based in Stockholm and Lund.
Jani Pösö
Jani Pösö is a producer, screenwriter and co-founder of It’s Alive Films. Among other works, Pösö is know for the films Lovemilla (2015) and Nimby (2020) that he co-wrote with Teemu Nikki, as well as a producer of Nikki’s films Euthanizer (2017), The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (2021), and Death is a Problem for the Living (2023).
In 2013 Pösö and Nikki founded the production company It’s Alive Films, which has so far produced multiple features, short films and TV series. In 2022 Pösö and Nikki received the Finnish State film award, and they have also received the Nordisk Film Award as well as two Venla Awards. The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic also won an audience award at Venice Film Festival. It’s Alive Films’ latest release, children’s film Snot & Splash, premiered in the beginning of 2024.
