Alli Haapasalo, a Finnish director and writer, was born on October 3, 1977.
Her initial rise to prominence stemmed from her thesis films, specifically the comedy short Ilona and the 60-minute long On Thin Ice, which garnered attention at various film festivals, including the 2009 Helsinki International Film Festival, the Brooklyn Film Festival, and the Manhattan Film Festival.
In 2015, Haapasalo returned to Finland, where she was invited to direct and write the feature film Love and Fury, released in 2016. She collaborated with six other Finnish director-writers on the 2019 anthology film Force of Habit, which received critical acclaim and won several prestigious awards, including Best Film in the International Competition at the 2020 Durban International Film Festival in South Africa and the Nordisk Film Award at the 2020 Jussi Awards.
Haapasalo also directed the Jarowskij Finland series Nyrkki and the coming-of-age film Girl Picture, adapted from a screenplay by Ilona Ahti and Daniela Hakulinen. Girl Picture premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the United States, where it received widespread critical acclaim and won the Audience Award in the World Dramatic Competition. The film has been selected for the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival's Generation section.
Haapasalo's work has been recognized and celebrated through numerous awards and accolades, solidifying her position as a prominent figure in the film industry.
