Sandra Itäinen is an award-winning, Finnish film director, producer and editor whose films have screened at film festivals such as SXSW, Thessaloniki, DOC NYC and Outfest, and have been distributed on various networks and platforms. Her work has been supported by major art institutions, such as The Gotham, NYSCA/NYFA, Brooklyn Arts Council, DOK Leipzig, Hot Docs, Kone Foundation and The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).
Sandra’s directorial feature debut COMING AROUND premiered at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2023, nominated for the Golden Alexander (Audience Award Winner at NewFest, Director’s Choice Award at Cinema Diverse etc.). Documentary editing credits include TOMBOY (SXSW, 2020), award-winning KELET (DocPoint, 2020), the experimental short film THE WATER KNOWS (Indie Memphis, 2021), as well as the docuseries BREAKTHROUGH: WOMEN CHANGING THE GAME (Apple TV+, Insight TV, UK), among others. In 2021, she directed the docuseries NOITAPIIRIT (eng. COVENS) to critical acclaim for The Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. She is the associate producer of DARK MONEY (POV/PBS, Amazon Prime) which premiered at Sundance 2018, nominated for Best Documentary Feature. Before moving into film, Sandra worked as a journalist for Finnish YLE. She works to amplify women’s voices, and tries to challenge societal dichotomies through filmmaking. She holds an MFA in Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts and an MSS from the University of Helsinki.
