Lampela is a director, screenwriter and producer. He graduated in 1992 from the Department of Film and Television at Helsinki’s University of Art and Design. Before that he had studied acting at the academy of drama arts and worked in the theater and on the radio. He made documentaries, short films such as Pidetty hiljainen mies (A Quiet Well-Liked Man, 1995) and Solar (1995), as well as TV series Hannu ja Kettu (1992), Pappa rakas (1993) and Elämän suola (1996), and finally in 1977 he made his feature film debut Sairaan kaunis maailma (Freakin\' Beautiful World). His second film was Rakastin epätoivoista naista (1999). He worked on the TV series Loistavat Jerkun pojat (1999) and Siperian Nero! (2000) and later made feature films Joki (River, 2001) and Eila (2003) for which he won Jussia awards in 2002 and 2004.