Sandra Itäinen is a Finnish film director, producer and editor with experience creating documentary films and docuseries that have screened at film festivals such as SXSW, Thessaloniki and DOC NYC, and have been distributed on various networks and media 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 documentary series BREAKTHROUGH: WOMEN CHANGING THE GAME (Insight TV, UK), among others. In 2021, she directed the short documentary series NOITAPIIRIT (eng. COVENS) to critical acclaim for Finnish YLE. Sandra’s first documentary short THE WEAVEOLOGIST (2016) screened at multiple film festivals, among others DOC NYC. She is the associate producer of DARK MONEY (dir. Kimberly Reed) 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.
