Finnish film producer and director Hanna Hemila began producing films after working a number of years in international banking. Over two decades later, her career spans everything from the winner of the International Critics Award at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, Le Havre directed by Aki Kaurismaki (Hemila being productrice executive), to the universally acclaimed and multi-award winning family feature film, Pelicanman (Berlinale/Kinderfilmfest 2005), several documentaries, animation films and multinational co-productions.
Hemila made her directorial debut with the Finnish-American documentary feature about the butler of Ingrid Bergman, Paavo, a Life in Five Courses (Opening film for the 2012 Eurodok film festival, Oslo, Norway). Originally drawn to filmmaking by her desire to create something meaningful for children to watch, Hemila utilized her project financing experience and M.Sc. degree in finance (Hanken) to produce her first animation series, the internationally acclaimed and awarded Urpo & Turpo.
Recently Hemila finished producing, co-writing and co-directing Moomins on the Riviera, an animated feature film based on the iconic Moomin characters by Tove Jansson. The film premiered in London Film Festival in 2014 and was nominated for the best animation film in Shanghai International Film Festival in 2015. Hemila also finished producing a Scandinavian holiday countdown for children, a 24 x15 min television series Tommys Supersofa, which aired on Svenska YLE in December 2013 and aired on MTV3 and NRK in 2015.
Other notable productions by Hemila include Bad Family, a Finnish feature film directed by Aleksi Salmenpera (Berlinale/Panorama 2010), Wolf (Varg), a Swedish-Finnish-Norwegian feature starring Peter Stormare (2008), Guarded Secrets, a Hungarian-Austrian-Finnish feature (2004) and the period movie Gold Fever in Lapland (1999).
Animation productions by Hemila include the series Tootletubs & Jyro (2001) and Urpo & Turpo (1996). The documentaries include Tove and Tooti in Europe (2004) and Haru, the Island of the Solitary (1998) about the famous author and creator of the Moomin comics, Tove Jansson, and her partner Tuulikki Pietila.
At present Hemila is finishing the production of an American-Finnish short film Catcalling Virgin. In development are feature films Schjerfbeck about the most famous Scandinavian female painter in 1880ies Paris and Camp Lekholmen, a youth film.
Hanna Hemila received the Art Award of the Finnish State in 2001 and was nominated in 2005 for Best Film in the national Oscars (Jussi-award) and in 2004 for Film-Finlandia award.