Myrskyluodon Maija, or Stormskerry Maja, won six awards, including Film of the Year and Best Actor in a Leading Role, at the Jussi Awards held at the Sea Cable Hall in Helsinki on Friday night.

However, photographers eager to capture a snapshot of award-winner Amanda Jansson for the lead role were disappointed when she neither entered the building nor walked the red carpet.

Jansson is Swedish, a foreigner, and like many award winners nominated in Finnish prize ceremonies, she was absent.

“Now there is no way of telling what she would have worn,” an older photographer sighed.

“Probably something awe-inspiring!” shouted another who appeared a bit younger.

“But what about what she would have said…,” I considered saying aloud but decided not to bother, as there were plenty of interesting people in the film business to talk to anyway.

Actress Aamu Milonoff. Photograph: TONY ÖHBERG/FINLAND TODAY

“This is the first splatter film to be nominated in the history of the Jussi Awards,” said Veera W. Vilo, an actress who has appeared in thrillers like Free Skate and now in (Pri)sons, the most violent Finnish film to enter cinemas yet.

This year, the film has even been screened in cinemas in Japan, a significant achievement and a kind of honor roll in a country with a long history of blood, guts and guns in filmmaking.

At the Jussi Awards, (Pri)sons was nominated for the Best Make-Up Design but lost to Levoton Tuhkimo, a story about the rise and fall of Dingo, a Finnish 1980s pop rock group where guyliner appeared dark and dangerous and powdered cheeks shone on screen.

Actor Joel Hirvonen. Photograph: TONY ÖHBERG/FINLAND TODAY

Joel Hirvonen, one of the nominees for the Best Actor in a Leading Role, was constantly kept busy under national TV cameras, almost jumping from one interview to another. He was nominated for last year’s Omenavarkaat (Apple Thieves) and also played the lead in this year’s Häjyt 2. In the former, he plays a sensitive, emotional and insecure character; in the latter, he portrays a tough, criminal-minded roughneck from Ostrobothnia.

YOURS TRULY: Which of the two movies was a more interesting experience?

JOEL HIRVONEN: *Laughs.* I wouldn’t go so far as to compare them. They were so different, from opposite sides of the spectrum. On the other hand, this is interesting when considering the range as an actor.

I interviewed Hirvonen before the nominations began and managed to catch him on the red carpet amid the rapid-fire requests for interviews. Later, when the TV cameras zoomed in on the nominees for best actor, there was a serious look in his eyes, the same intensity that made him great as Konsta “The Vengeance” Karhu in Häjyt 2. Still, when Hirvonen clapped for Amanda Jansson’s name, he likely felt happy for his foreign counterpart and was probably “cool” with Omenavarkaat winning the Jussi Award for Ensemble of the Year, a new category rewarding cast synergy. It probably wasn’t too bad either that Satu Tuuli Karhu won the Best Supporting Actor award for the film as well.

Roope Olenius, owner, producer and actor of Bright Fame Pictures, the movie production and distribution company behind the Jussi Award-nominated film (Pri)sons. Beside him is his spouse and actress, Veera W. Vilo. Photograph: TONY ÖHBERG/FINLAND TODAY

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Pepe Willberg and his spouse, Pauliina Visuri. Photograph: TONY ÖHBERG/FINLAND TODAY

When director Tiina Lymi of Myrskyluodon Maija picked up the award for the Best Directing on stage during the live broadcast on national TV and politicized her speech by urging the government not to cut the budget for culture, I remembered that I had attended the red carpet event for that movie as well, but was unable to attend the screening because of its nearly three-hour duration.

Based on Anni Blomqvist’s five-volume book series, the film is set in the Åland archipelago and follows Ma(i)ja and her husband Janne as they navigate life’s challenges on a remote island in the 19th century. This fictional story, published at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, is a Finnish favorite among Boomers and Gen X. Perhaps it’s because Finns are accustomed to enduring hardships, but the resilient islanders offer a different perspective on love and acceptance.

No wonder 470,302 people saw it in cinemas, bringing in plenty of cash for one of the producers, Markus Selin, who also appeared happy on stage.

Firstly, I felt kind of sad for being unable to watch the blockbuster in cinemas; but then I realized that I had seen Pepe with about 11,150 others and (Pri)sons among more viewers (1,720) than the prize-winning Omenavarkaat (1,283).

Apples to oranges … the first-ever Jussi Award-nominated splatter film, created by talented independent Finnish filmmakers, felt like being hit by a ten-ton hammer of laughs and chills.

What more could a moviegoer want?

Editor’s note: Sadly, Pepe did not win either, but his music remains, and the documentary is available for streaming.

JUSSI AWARD WINNERS 2025

Film of the Year 

Myrskyluodon Maija – Producers Jukka Helle, Hanna Virolainen, Markus Selin / Solar Films

Directing

Tiina Lymi – Myrskyluodon Maija

Leading Role

Amanda Jansson – Myrskyluodon Maija

Supporting Role 

Satu Tuuli Karhu – Omenavarkaat

Breakthrough in Acting (new category)

Saku Taittonen – Levoton Tuhkimo

Ensemble (new category, awarded to the central cast of a film, where the collaboration between the actors stands out in a special way)

Script

Miia Tervo – Ohjus

Cinematography

Teemu Liakka – Havumetsän lapset

Music

Lauri Porra – Myrskyluodon Maija

Sound Design

Svante Colérus – Shadowland

Editing

Joona Louhivvuori – Myrskyluodon Maija

Production Design

Otso Linnalaakso – Myrskyluodon Maija

Costume Design

Kirsi Gum – Ohjus

Make-up Design

Nora Pippingsköld – Levoton Tuhkimo

Visual Effects (VFX)

Tuomo Hintikka – Räkä ja Roiskis

Documentary Film

Havumetsän lapset – Director / Producer Virpi Suutari, Producer Martti Suosalo / Euphoria Film

Short Film

Mereneläviä – Director Veera Lamminpää

Lifetime Achievement Award Concrete Jussi

Stunt Coordinator Reijo Kontio