Jalmari Helander

Jalmari Helander
Jalmari Helander in 2010
Born	(1976-07-21) 21 July 1976 (age 49) Helsinki, Finland
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter
Notable work	Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) Big Game (2014) Sisu (2022)
Relatives	Jorma Tommila (brother-in-law) Onni Tommila (nephew)

Jalmari Helander (born 21 July 1976) ^[1] is a Finnish screenwriter and film director. He is known for the 2010 film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale , the 2014 action-adventure Big Game starring Samuel L. Jackson, and the 2022 WWII action film Sisu . Before turning to feature films, Helander directed several short films and award-winning television commercials. ^[2] In 2025, it was announced that Helander would direct John Rambo , the upcoming prequel to First Blood (1982) in the Rambo franchise. ^{[3] [4]}

Helander is the brother-in-law of actor Jorma Tommila and the maternal uncle of Jorma's son Onni, both of whom have acted in his films.

Filmography

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
1999	Jäämies	Yes	Uncredited	Also editor
	Maximillian Tarzan	Yes	Yes
2001	Ukkonen   [ fi ]	Yes	Yes
2003	Rare Exports, Inc.   [ fr; fi ]	Yes	Yes
2005	Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions   [ fr; fi ]	Yes	Yes
2006	Fakiiri	Yes	Story	Also producer
2011	Viimeinen pisara	Yes	Yes

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
2010	Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale	Yes	Yes
2014	Big Game	Yes	Yes
2022	Sisu	Yes	Yes
2025	Sisu: Road to Revenge [5]	Yes	Yes

TV series

Year	Title	Notes
2017-2018	Wingman   [ fi ]	9 episodes
2020	Perfect Commando	10 episodes
2021	Karkurit	1 episode

See also

• Finnish cinema

References

1. "Jalmari Helander". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
2. "Big Game". Toronto International Film Festival. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
3. Lehtonen, Veli-Pekka (20 May 2025). "John Rambo ja minä" [John Rambo and I]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
4. Coman, Monica (12 August 2025). "1 of the Best Recent Action Films With 94% RT Score Is Heading to Hulu Soon". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 16 August 2025.
5. "Nyt se vahvistui: Sisu 2 on tekeillä – Jalmari Helander palaa ohjaajaksi". Muropaketti (in Finnish). 20 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.

External links

• Jalmari Helander at IMDb