Hanna K Hemila

Hanna K Hemila

(She/Her)
CEO
Whooper, LLC
Full Bio
Finnish film producer and director Hanna Hemila began producing films after working a number of years in international banking. Three 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.
Professional Credits
Prod: short comedy Catcalling Virgin, 2018 - Prod/co-director/co-writer: animated feature film Moomins on the Riviera, 2014 - Productrice executive: feature film Le Havre by Aki Kaurismaki, Cannes competition, 2011 - Prod/writer/director: Paavo, a Life in Five Courses about the butler of Ingrid Bergman, 2010 - Line-prod: feature film Bad Family by Aleksi Salmenpera, Berlinale 2010 - Co-prod: feature film Wolf starring Peter Stormare, 2008 - Prod: family feature Pelicanman, 2004 - Prod: documentary in Super 8 Tove and Tooti in Europe, 2004 - Co-Prod: feature film Guarded Secrets, 2004 - Prod: period movie Gold Fever in Lapland by Ake Lindman, 1999 - Prod: animation shorts, 13x7' Tootletubs and Jyro, 2001 - Prod: animation shorts 13x9' Urpo and Turpo, 1996, 1997 - Prod: documentary Behind the curtains, 2001 - Prod: documentary Haru, the Island of the Solitary, 1998 - Prod: documentary The Secret of Urpo and Turpo, 1996
Industry Awards
Personal award

Finnish State Art Award, 2001: Producer of Tootletubs and Jyro

Hemila was nominated in 2005 for Best Film in the national Oscars (Jussi-award), in 2004 for Film-Finlandia award and in 2015 for best animated feature film in Shanghai International Film Festival



The films have won awards in Cannes, Paris, Czech, Finland, India, USA/Chicago, UK/London, Moscow, Vilnius, Cairo, France, etc.
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