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][4]

Jalmari Helander
Jalmari Helander in 2010
Born	(1976-07-21) 21 July 1976 (age 49) Helsinki, Finland
Occupations	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.^{[citation needed]}

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