Janna is an independent documentary filmmaker based in New York City and Helsinki.
She works with clients as a freelance director, producer and editor to tell impactful and engaging visual stories. Previously, as Senior Producer and Editor of Multimedia at Human Rights Watch, she created compelling visual content on global human rights stories, reaching tens of millions of viewers and advancing some of the most difficult issues of our time.
In her films, Janna strives to examine the stories we tell, with a distinct sensitivity for the mythical, metaphysical and subjective. She holds a master's degree in political history from the University of Helsinki, and is a past fellow of the Union Docs documentary arts collaborative studio in New York.
For all inquiries, please email jkyllastinen[at]gmail.com
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
The New York Times | Newsweek | The Independent | Filmmaker Magazine
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Best Social Media Campaign Video | Center for Media and Cultural Freedom | No Longer Alone
Best Experimental Film | Brooklyn Film Festival | Division Avenue
Best Student Film | United Film Festival New York | Into Noise
Best Documentary Short Nominee | American Indian Film Festival | Along the Winisk River
Grants | Canada Arts Council | Finlandia Foundation National
SELECT SCREENINGS AND OUTLETS
Criterion Channel | PBS Public Broadcasting Service | CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Brooklyn Film Festival | Big Sky Documentary Film Festival | Helsinki Short Film Festival | ImagineNATIVE | Imagine Science Film Festival | Athens Ethnographic Film Festival | Vienna Jewish Museum | Harvard University | Brooklyn Public Library | Smithsonian Showcase at the Museum of the American Indian | Māoriland Film Festival | Lofoten International Art Festival | Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI | Environmental Film Festival DC | Human Rights Arts & Film Festival Australia | Human Rights Watch Film Festival