65th Annual Jussi Awards for Finnish film - winners

On Sunday night, the 65th annual Jussi Awards were held at a gala ceremony in Helsinki. Napapiirin sankarit (Lapland Odyssey) captured the prize for Best Picture, and was also awarded Best Director (Dome Karukoski) and Best Screenplay (Pekko Pesonen). It was also named winner of the People's Choice Award.

The dark Christmas-themed comedy Rare Exports was shut out of the main categories but captured more awards. It took a total of six prizes in the craft categories of Cinematography, Music, Sound, Editing, Art Direction and Costume Design.

The acting awards went to four different films. The Best Actor was Ville Virtanen for Paha perhe (Bad Family) while Katja Küttner won for her work in Prinsessa (Princess). Sampo Sarkola won the Best Supporting Actor award for Kohtaamisia (Heartbeats) while Best Supporting Actress went to Sara Melleri for Sisko tahtoisin jäädä (Run Sister Run!).

As expected, the award for Best Documentary was presented to Miesten vuoro (Steam of Life) by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen. It presents a fascinating depictions of men baring their souls as well as bodies in various saunas. It was Finland's submission to the Academy Awards for the Foreign Language Film category.

A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to writer/director Matti Kassila for a long career dating back to the 1940s.

The Jussi Awards were founded in 1944 but were not awarded in 1960, 1961 and 1965. They are considered to be the oldest film awards in Europe. Except for the the People’s Choice Award, the Jussi Awards are voted on by a jury comprised mostly of members of Filmiaura, an association of film professionals.
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Complete list of winners for the 65th Annual Jussi Awards

Best Picture
Napapiirin sankarit (Lapland Odyssey), producer Aleksi Bardy

Director
Dome Karukoski, Napapiirin sankarit (Lapland Odyssey)

Actor
Ville Virtanen, Paha perhe (Bad Family)

Actress
Katja Küttner, Prinsessa (Princess)

Supporting Actor
Sampo Sarkola, Kohtaamisia (Heartbeats)

Supporting Actress
Sara Melleri, Sisko tahtoisin jäädä (Run Sister Run!)

Screenplay
Pekko Pesonen, Napapiirin sankarit (Lapland Odyssey)

Cinematography
Mika Orasmaa, Rare Exports

Music
Juri Seppä and Miska Seppä, Rare Exports

Sound
Tuomas Seppänen, Timo Anttila, Jussi Honka, Rare Exports

Editing
Kimmo Taavila, Rare Exports

Art Direction
Jalmari Helande, Rare Exports

Costume Design
Saija Siekkinen, Rare Exports

Documentary
Miesten vuoro (Steam of Life), Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen

Lifetime Achievement Award
Matti Kassila

People's Choice Award
Napapiirin sankarit (Lapland Odyssey), Dome Karukoski