Meet Erika Haavisto | Non-fiction filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erika Haavisto and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erika, what is the most important factor behind your success?

To me, success means being able to consistently do what you love for work. The two most important things about how I have managed to turn filmmaking into a career is being passionate about what I do and having other professionals recognise that I am seriously invested. You need other people to turn any passion into a career. What has been the strongest sign to pursue filmmaking is that whether I am hired or not, the camera stays in my hands. I love storytelling, the technical side of filmmaking, the human aspect when directing and being able to make a living through what I love. Those are beautiful turning points when you meet professionals who believe in you and give you a chance. I do not take their trust and great work ethics for granted. I am proud to have been and continue being a crew member on amazing projects.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

In 2012, I was an exchange student in Paris when I realized that instead of partying, I spent my weekends shooting the city. I was excited to capture beauty, emotions, places, emotions, events and people on camera and come home to edit it together. I believe the video I made after the exchange was the first piece that made me realize that I can move people with my work and make them think and eventually, talk about meaningful things. This inspired me to watch non-fiction movies at documentary film festivals. What is magical about film festivals is seeing stories in one movie theatre from all over the world with the possibility of having a live Q&A on stage after the screening. There is something extraordinary about trying to make a change, voicing your opinion and making people think. That is what artists do (especial shoutout to my role model Madonna!). I am drawn to the fact that documentary movies are stories of existing people and authentic circumstances. I appreciate the bravery of non-fiction characters for giving access to filmmakers to tell their story. That is one big responsibility. Becoming a non-fiction filmmaker has definitely been an unconventional career choice that was not introduced to me at school. First of all, we are not many, I am from a small country of 5,5 million people and filmmaking is generally speaking a male-dominant industry. Besides directing, I love to operate the camera. I have learned that I have to have patience, be brave, listen to others carefully and find the people I want to work with. As in many other creative industries, there are quite some big egos in the film industry as well. What makes me happy is noticing that it is more and more appreciated that you are easy to work with, a fair person with integrity and good intentions. I am glad to know professionals who are not making movies mainly to pose on red carpets and win awards, but to live through their passion for audiovisual storytelling. 

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I live in Paris currently. To get the not-so-popular experience in the city, I would take my guest to the Medina hammam sauna near Buttes-Chaumont, ride the city bikes, take photos around the Montmartre area, watch a modern danse performance (the Murmuration group is pretty awesome!) and eat some west-african food at Osè African Cuisine.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

First, I would like to express my gratitude to those film commissionaires and colleagues who fund my movies, hire me in their film productions and show their support on social media. However, there is one film production that sticks out when reflecting (back to) my achievements. In 2023, I was basically a-one-woman-camera-department shooting a non-fictional tv-series at Warner Brothers International Television Finland about Finns working in Canada and the US. An invaluable factor that deserves a special shoutout, besides the fact of having extraordinary experiences on the road, is the phenomenal leadership of the production department. The lesson of this film production is that an employee who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected. What I want to say with this is that I had as great working conditions as I could have wished for. We had a motivated team that trusted and encouraged each other, felt safe, worked hard, laughed together and delivered on time. I believe the whole team agrees that we are proud of the result. It was a pleasure to work in an environment where you feel valued and where you learn new things from talented people. It is pretty amazing to see what a strong team can create when we work together for one goal.

Website: https://cargocollective.com/erikahaavisto

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erika.filmmaker/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-haavisto-42b37273/

Image Credits
Biko Marrast