Jalmari Helander

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]

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)

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	Producer	Editor
1999	Jäämies	Yes	Uncredited	No	Yes
	Maximillian Tarzan	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
2001	Ukkonen  [fi]	Yes	Yes	No	No
2003	Rare Exports, Inc.  [fr; fi]	Yes	Yes	No	No
2005	Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions  [fr; fi]	Yes	Yes	No	No
2006	Fakiiri	Yes	Story	Yes	No
2011	Viimeinen pisara	Yes	Yes	No	No

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 2[4]	Yes	Yes

TV series

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

See also

• Finnish cinema