Black Bear announced today that its management arm has signed Mikko Mäkelä, a rising Finnish-British writer/director based in London. Named by IndieWire as an “LGBTQ Filmmaker on the Rise,” Mäkelä is best known for his contributions to international queer cinema and for creating provocative, yet tender stories about sexuality and identity.

Mäkelä’s directorial debut A Moment in the Reeds premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and screened at nearly a hundred festivals worldwide, including Göteborg Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and Frameline in San Francisco. The film was nominated for the ‘Discovery Award’ at the 2018 British Independent Film Awards and for the ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’ prizes at the 2019 Finnish Jussi Awards.

Continuing to explore questions of identity, Mäkelä’s sophomore feature, Sebastian, is both a psychological portrait of queer sex work in London and a heartfelt depiction of what it means to an individual at odds with traditionalist society. Sebastian premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2024 and was met with rave reviews, cementing Mäkelä as one of the most interesting queer filmmakers working today. The film will be distributed by Kino Lorber, releasing later this summer on August 2, 2024.

Prior to his feature debut, Mäkelä directed a number of music and fashion promos and worked as an editor on commercials. He is an alumnus of the BFI Network x BAFTA Crew, Berlinale Talents, and BIFA Springboard, as well as a member of the European Film Academy.