[2] Vaala was born to Russian parents Jakov Ivanov (Ivanoff), a milliner, and Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Jeminova.

[4] They decided to start making films together, but their first feature-length attempt, Mustat silmät in 1929, never received wide distribution.

Many of Vaala's films were adaptations of popular classics of Finnish literature, by authors such as Mika Waltari, Aleksis Kivi and Maiju Lassila.

Vaala also directed several adaptations on works by Frans Eemil Sillanpää, one of which, Ihmiset suviyössä (1948), has been called his best film,[13] and is reported to have been one of the director's personal favorites.

[15] Vaala's other popular films included Niskavuoren naiset in 1938 and his adaptations from Mika Waltari's books Gabriel, tule takaisin (1951) and Omena putoaa… (1952).

His last credited work was a short documentary film about the Finlandia Hall, created at the request of the city of Helsinki.

One of the directing awards was given jointly for Dynamiittityttö and Linnaisten vihreä kamari in 1945, the others were for Loviisa, Niskavuoren nuori emäntä (1946) and Omena putoaa (1952).