Year 1973, Finland, Southern Ostrobothnia. The long-awaited child is named Anselmi. The mother disappears in a snowstorm on the evening of the baptism. She is never found. The father raises the child alone. 15 years later, Anselmi falls in love for the first time in her life. Changes begin to take place in the young man, for reasons which lead to the mystery of Anselmi's mothers disappearance 15 years ago. The father's 15 years of silence begins to crack and secrets are revealed.
Markku built a house for his family with his own bare hands like a strong man is supposed to do. He worked hard from dawn to dusk, so that his seven children would have a roof above their heads. Unfortunately, the task ended up being too hard and Markku burnt out. One day, he left his family and disappeared abroad. The filmmaker travels to his childhood home to face his father, who he never got to know properly. Together they build a steel gate in front of the unfinished house, and try to create a relationship between each other.
Known as one of Finland’s most prominent rock institutions, Tavastia club celebrated half a century of being in the business, whilst withstanding the challenges of a global pandemic. In this rockumentary, director Antti Kuivalainen takes us through the history of Tavastia, as the club which brought rock ‘n’ roll to Finland.
Heavysaurs is a partly-animated, live-action family adventure about two kids who find five funny dinosaur creatures that love to eat and play rock music. When the creatures are taken into captivity, their rescue takes the kids on an exciting adventure full of challenges and surprises.
When filmmaker Mari Soppela took her children and husband to live for a year on a sacred mountain in her native Finland, she was fulfilling a lifelong dream to share the arctic wilderness of her childhood with her family. But when years later her children turn the camera onto her, she is forced to confront her motivation for filming their lives in this searching and searingly honest cinematic exploration of identity, belonging and motherhood. Filmed over the course of 27 years, Mother Land challenges us all to examine the landscapes we carry within us and the narratives we create to make sense of our lives.
Docudrama about the Soviet occupation of a Finnish village in the fall before the Winter War.
A former British spy stumbles into in a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom?
Twelve-year-old Tommy reluctantly moves with his father from the big city to a small Lapp village - the childhood home of his mother, who has recently died. The village is close to the northernmost wildlife reserve in the world, where Tommy's father will be working on a project to release a captive lynx into the wild. The boy gradually falls under the spell of his new surroundings, and discovers that his mother was involved in protecting the local lynx, and, when his father's project fails, and the lynx is about to be sold, he decides to set it free himself. A dramatic series of events ensues, and Tommy, through his brave actions, regains the trust and respect of his family and the village.
Rolli and little elf girl Juniper along with the rest of the rollis and other strange creatures lead peaceful and rollishly fun lives in their flourishing Rolli Village. One day the inquisitive friends Rolli and Juniper hear incredible news from Malcolm the Maggot: somewhere far away, beyond mountains, forests and the sea, lies a place called The Beginning of All Time. That’s where the storks always take off on their trips to deliver babies in small bundles to their new homes. Rolli and Juniper cannot help but become curious. Both of them have fallen into Rolli Village in a bundle from the sky, and especially Juniper has always wondered where she came from. The two friends decide to throw themselves into a joint adventure. They embark on a trip toward The Beginning of All Time in order to find the answer to life’s greatest secret.
Documentary about Finnish rap-duo JVG. In addition to the unprecedented video footage recorded over a ten-year period, the film features JVG and the background influencers, family members, and friends who built its story.
Forever Yours is a film about children who have been taken into custody. Through the children, their biological parents and foster parents, the film depicts love in everyday life. The film explores the invisible bond between a child and a biological parent. Even when a child is taken into custody, the yearning for closeness to the biological parents and need for their approval never seems to disappear. This longing is a form of loneliness that the foster parents struggle to overcome. The film describes the entire foster care process: a child being brought into a shelter home, a teenager’s everyday life in a foster family, and siblings preparing to return to their biological mother, after five years in a foster family.
How to Fix the World? is a comprehensive and informative documentary about direct action in the 1990s and 2000s, directed by Jouko Aaltonen. In the documentary, anarchists, climate activists, and squatters openly describe their experiences and link them to mainstream phenomena in society. A wide range of archive material sheds a light on the history of direct action and activism in the Finnish society.
This is a sad story of Eros and Psyche. Sadder than the ancient myth that was only a dream after all. In my story, the characters learn nothing.
The concept of machine-made knit was known as early as the 1850s, but it was only during the 1920s that the quality of the material had improved. When the plant known as "Atlas" was introduced in 1931, the shop windows drew a lot of attention, and Aho & Soldan was ordered to make a promotional film. In this well-paced film, we see the jersey production step by step.
For a hundred years, the Association of Finnish Student Unions (SYL) has acted as the mouthpiece for Finnish university students. SYL opened its doors to the world and was a pioneer in both student health care and housing production. At the same time, there have been marches both for developing countries and against the Soviet Union.
A story about 10-year-old Ruth and her life in Jakobstad in the years 1917-1918, during the Finnish Civil War. Based on a novel by Anna Bondestam.
When a minor German prince becomes an unlikely king candidate, the assignment to teach him the language of his future subjects seems purely formal at first. But as the offbeat candidate is elected king, the pupil and his tutor find themselves in the midst of ugly political intrigue. Ultimately, both of them have to give up their life dreams in order to save a nation from ruin.
A documentary about Finnish twin sisters, one of whom disappeared in Argentina in 1977.
Documentary about Finnish Jews during WWII and their unique position as German allies.
The film follows two years of the extremely endangered arctic fox's attempt to return to Finnish nature as a breeding species, as well as the people who try to save the species. Kimmo Ohtonen's tireless toil is finally rewarded, when he manages to capture for the first time in Finland the journey of an arctic fox family in almost 30 years, from the start of romance to raising pups. This is the first time that the reproduction of an arctic fox has been recorded on video. There is a unique journey in the foothills of the North, culminating in a historic event.