Discoveries from Finland World Cinema

An archaeological team unearths a body of a young woman, who was told to be a witch buried in the bog some 300 years ago. Soon a naked woman appears and drives the men of the village crazy...

Pitch-noir melodrama about young Kauko's endless obsession and love-hate-relationship with Osmi, a girl he has known since childhood. Standing at her death bed, Kauko reminisces his years spent as a sailor, prisoner, smuggler, and a soldier in the Second World War, while Osmi manages to evolve from prostitution to a seemingly happy family life with someone else.

Liina lives together with her mother. Her mother is often working night shifts so Liina needs to get by alone. In the same building is an apartment where a man died some time ago. One morning Liina hears a dog barking inside the apartment. Liina makes up a story about the dog and tells it to everyone the following day. A nightly rendezvous in the dead man’s apartment turns Liina’s stories true.

Portrait of rural life in 1920s Northern Finland. The film follows the early life of a boy called Kalle and his family in the shores of river Iijoki.

Portrait of Heikki Klemet as a folklore researcher, choir director and composer.

Sixteen-year-old Tomi trusts no one and does his best to protect his little sister Aino from the dangers of the world. But Aino is changing, fast. Because of his own fear of loneliness, Tomi tries to stop his sister, but he will eventually find out that you cannot control another person by force.

The quirky adventures of Hayflower and her little sister Quiltshoe.

At Pösökylä's lodge, Taneli injures her leg in fur hunter Eemel's wolf irons, and Eemeli decides to take up the position of lodge lodge. During the leave of office, Eemeli gives lessons to the rich Petter who rules the village and arranges the engagement of his daughter Ilona to the blacksmith Ilmar. At the same time, the affairs of the coffee bar owner Bertta are also put in order and the prisoner escaper Luukas is caught.

A raped women meets the authorities.

A bored rich girl falls in love with a dock worker.

In Finland, a small child is waiting for his time to begin. His heart is broken. A major heart surgery is expected. There is a fight against time. The boys parents are wandering in the corridors of the hospital. The heart is stopped during the surgery operation. Le Locle, a village in Switzerland acts as the heart of watch industry. Narrow streets of the village carry vital parts to watches and nowdays also into human bodies, for example pacemakers. Village is formed as a big factory line and appears as a time-twisting machine. There pieces are refined and workers hands turns the time on and off.

Tokyo at the beginning of the 21st century, its inhabitants and artists. An observation and diagnosis of the modern Japanese metropolis: the singularity of unusual creative individuals is merely a response to the majority Japanese society. Even this can appear as an eccentric work of art. So where do the borders lie? A psychologist talks about the autistic way of life burgeoning in the dense population of the country. A noise musician speaks of her inspiration from sado-masochistic bondage as an art form. A programmer specializing in computer games assures us: I can distinguish our world and “the other side”! Why are the robots in Japanese comic books almost always affable and positive characters? Will “love hotels”, the unique designer havens for sexual experiences, become extinct in the future? Photographer Nobuyoshi Araki sees noise as one of the fundamental aspects of Tokyo life.

In a not so distant future artificial intelligence speaks to suffocating humanity. On the last journey, humanity is escorted by surreal entities, through twists and turns that led to humanity’s last breath.

Elina and Pentti are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary and have invited Elina's cousin Ann-Mari and her husband Teemu to their village. During the evening, the group begins reminiscing about the past, revealing Elina's brief romance with Martti before she got married.

18-year-old orphan Sylvi is unable to refuse the marriage proposal made by her guardian, Aksel. The young wife is unhappy with her elderly husband and loves her childhood friend Viktoria instead. Sylvi sinks into despair when Aksel refuses to grant her a divorce.

Little Wing tells the story of 12-year-old Varpu, who's quickly growing to adulthood, and about her mother, who doesn't want to grow up. Varpu lives with her mother and has never met her father. One night Varpu has enough of her riding buddies and her mother. She steals a car and drives up north in search of her father, of whom she only knows the name. But her father is not exactly what she had expected. Meeting him trigger something in Varpu and mother's life, making them realize their role in each other's lives, and in the world.

A dramatic documentary film that deals with the Nazi rise to power in Germany in the 1930s and the development of the persecution of Jews up to the Holocaust. The film tells about the attitude of the Finnish government to the request for the handover of the Finnish Jews presented by Heinrich Himmler in the summer of 1942. The main focus of the film is the life of Jewish refugees in Finland in the years 1938-1942 and the attitude of the Finnish government to their handover in the fall of 1942.

Innocence tells the story of children who resisted to be enlisted but capitulated. Their stories were never told as they died during their service. Through a narration based on their haunting diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil. It interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers whose stories are silenced and seen as a national threat.

A story about the love and subsequent life story of agronom Elmer Oras and Margi Kaski and their son. The story has its origins just before the Winter War. After a brief encounter, both fell in love. As a result of this love affair, Margit gets pregnant Soon the war breaks out and Elmer has to go the front. As the war goes on, Elmer does not return from a patrol mission behind the enemy lines. After the war times are hard for Margit and his fatherless son.

A journey into four classical elements through the four main characters of the film. The main characters in the movie represent each of their own elements.

Miila has found out that her grandmother Marja was born in Karelia. The subject has a close community on social media in Finland, which Miila wants to be a part of, so she decides to shoot a social media videos about Karelianness and her grandmother. The plan fails, and Miila doesn't get the visibility she craves. Instead, she learns what Karelianness is really about in their family.

A cynical city dweller returns to his hometown to sell his family home, but becomes unexpectedly nostalgic.

Young Nazi skinhead, Väinö, comes home from prison. Mother is not around, but big brother is. Big brother is not telling whereabouts of mother, but for some reason there's a lot raw meat around the apartment.

A story about the life of reindeer emperor Mosku in Eastern Lapland at the beginning of the 20th century, when social conditions and the practice of traditional livelihoods are in transition. Mosku is involved in reindeer disputes and skirmishes and is also involved in the bandit hunt on the side of Soviet Russia led by Wallenius, the commander of the Lapland border guard.

A Russian officer rescues the wanted anarchist Vera Maretskaja. A romance arises between them, but the secret police arrests the officer in a restaurant and expels him to Siberia on charges of aiding the revolutionaries.

The company's regional manager has had enough of the fast pace of business and the frivolous patterns. He leaves the office sauna for a booze run at the behest of his boss. Drunk and driving his own car, even he doesn't have to. The situation becomes a thrilling chase that ends in a breathalyzer test and all-round relief as things fall into place. The booze run becomes a turning point in the life of the group's regional manager.

The director's daughter, Raila Tuulo, is the only one who has seen the burglar terrorizing the city, the mysterious "Blue Overalls," and recognizes him as Joel Ormak. Under Raila's influence, Joel gives up his wild lifestyle and his former love interest, the vampish Iris Vild. But a murder takes place at a nightclub, and the victim's last words are Joel's name. Approximately 16 minutes of footage and excerpts from the film have been preserved.

Two men, a Finn and a Belarusian live alone, on a lake's island.

Pop singer Kari and his girl dump a tightly wrapped mattress on a frozen lake. Things don’t quite go as planned, and the two go to Kari’s old drummer friend for help. Paranoia, jealousy and a series of increasingly absurd events ensue.

After their first record was an unexpected hit, siblings Vili and Malin have moved to the countryside with their band called “Children of Mania” to work on their second album. Malin keeps on exploiting their troubled childhood in song lyrics. However, this time Malin takes it too far and Vili starts to rethink his relationship with their music and his sister.

On the shimmering shores of Europe’s otherworldly edge, two teenage girls, Hanake and her best friend are discussing their first love interest while gazing out at yachts sailing to Kyoto. They whisper prayers and poems, the language of their longings. But the magic is fading in their isolated fishing village as they’re dealing with a recent disaster, with some indulging in erotic art, some in spiritual spells. It becomes clear that intimacy alone won’t help them process their loss.

Set between 1930s and 50s, The Farewell the story of Valerie, who lives in a household totally repressed by her stern father. When Valerie has a brief affair with another woman, her father is extremely angry and tries to end the affair with physical force. However Valerie’s determination, independence and lesbian feelings cannot be crushed.

This version of August Strindberg's play from 1888 takes place in South Africa in the 1980s. The servant John is black and Miss Julie a white landowner's daughter.

As the host country for the 2018 Winter Olympics, South Korea’s national ice hockey team was automatically given a spot in the Olympic hockey tournament. The team would play at the highest level for the first time, facing the top countries in the sport. The skill gap between them and their opponents was huge, as South Korea had just 180 professional hockey players. Failure and defeat weren’t acceptable results, as losing face is considered the worst thing that could happen in Korean culture. But how to avoid humiliation, when defeat seems certain?

Tiina decides to reconnect with his aged and bohemian father living alone. With her reluctant daughter and new husband, they move in and start to renovate the old house. However, neither the renovation nor facing the past is effortless.

Activists have been fighting for animal rights for decades. Will they succeed in winning the battle against meat production or will the food industry be unstoppable? The film depicts the structural nature of the animal industry and the systematic abuse of power through three central characters. They fight the battle of David and Goliath against a seemingly invincible industry, ready to achieve their goals at any cost. The brutal undercover photos taken by the activists have caused a series of international scandals, but will they ultimately succeed in making a difference?

Adopted, 12-year-old Salla lives in Lapland. After she rescues some wolf cubs from a poacher, her mission to keep them safe helps her reunite with her mother, who shares her mysterious connection with nature.

DESERT PHOSfate is an artist film that tells about the impact of phosphate on the Sahrawi community and its fate, including the surprising emergence of family gardens and their knowledge of how to farm in the desert without the processed phosphorus that had caused the dislocation of the Sahrawi nomads from their homeland of Western Sahara.

When gravity is flipped for all children and their world turns upside down, the ceiling becomes the floor and the floor becomes the ceiling!

Lauri Valjakka, a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, is thoroughly fed up with his family, whom he refers to as a "consumption unit," and his irritating, rigid wife. After a tedious train journey, Valjakka decides to leave his wife. He manages to escape to a station restaurant, where he meets an unusually honest man who has been abandoned and a straightforward woman.

In northern Finland in the fall of 1916, Saima Niva rescues a man drifting in the river, who turns out to be a German lieutenant Braun. Braun and his six comrades have managed to escape the prisoner of war at the Muurmann railway station, but the lieutenant has had to get rid of the lost group. While Braun is recovering, under the good care of Saima, Niva's neighbor and henchman of the gendarmes, the greedy policeman Simpura, gets a tip about the refugees camped in the desert.

After being harassed at the office by her boss, Eila gets sacked and tries to find a new job. After difficulties, she eventually begins to work as a model to a sculptor.

An arctic comedy about the childlike, sincere Kauko and his desire to grow up. It is a story about two brothers who accidentally end up in each other's pants. In the Lapland summer night, they encounter lovers, petty criminals, and Kauko, who is learning the ABCs of love.

The story of the first elections in Finland. Farmer Topi Romppainen lives a modest life with his family in Kainuu in the early 20th century. While shopping in the village, Topi hears about the upcoming parliamentary elections. His wife Riikka decides to find out more and ends up at a meeting of the Social Democrats.

Jakke is about to get married to a young and pregnant woman. When his friends find out, they drag him into a pub for a stag night.

A revolver changes hands seven times, each time serving a different purpose shot in a film style which tests the traditional story-telling form of film.

An art history student with lung disease arrives to do research on a secluded and alcoholic artist. The student is interested in why the artist's production consists of cruel subjects and how he manages to tell about real life through these. When they spend time together, they get to know each other and a love affair develops between them.

Sock manufacturer August Lampaanpää finds himself in financial difficulties due to the upkeep of his girlfriend Kyllikki Mattler, appeasing his wife, and opposing his daughter Vappu's plans to marry car mechanic Manne Hietikko.

Antero Rousku is a storeman in a paint store. His job requires raw muscle power, mixing paints and carrying house repair materials around to earn his daily bread. But the basic salary is not enough for Rousku. He also sells a lot of stuff on the side from the storeroom directly to Jylhäkorpi, a frequent visitor, bypassing company bookkeeping. Rousku's colleague in the cellar storeroom is Raninen whose life consists of work, quarreling with his wife, and lottery. Raninen wants to win the main prize but he wants to have the right numbers in exactly the order in which they appear from the lottery machine. Raninen is not the sharpest pencil in the pencil box. Rousku's freedom is threatened by his relationship to the saleswoman Karita. Rousku wants to keep a distance to the woman except in bed. Karita has decided otherwise.

A poet finds a new muse in young woman.

The invisible UFO men Giljotin and Orvaskesi land on Earth and take on the appearance of the first people they encounter, Mr. Tossavais and psychiatrist Pehmeäleff. The eccentric professor takes the alien devices he has found to his laboratory, where one of the components ends up with Joona Maaperä, a manager suffering from stress, causing him to behave strangely.

The Torniainen are a couple consisting of Raija, a flight attendant, and Hanski, a civil engineer. They have long wanted to have a child. Tests show that Hanski is infertile, and the doctor offers little hope.

A lone fisherman dreams of mermaids

Umur tells a love story strongly connected to the nature of Lapland, in which Poika, a young border guard played with sensitivity by Heikki Rantanen, falls passionately in love with the mysterious Lapland beauty Umuri.

The dissolution of a family in 10 minutes.

The film takes place in the summer and spring of 1940. Isä, the father, gets involved in the stock market and threatens the livelihood of the family.

Rise and fall of Jari Sarasvuo, as he transforms from a media person to business training guru during the crazy years of the 1990s and 2000s, just before the financial crash.

Ex prime Minister Eva Vogler causes a scandal at the Nobel Banquet and soon finds herself lost in the desert of the real. There she is confronted by her doppelgänger and other characters, one of them a possessed man pretending to be her husband. Throughout the film voice messages are being left on Vogler’s answering machine, suggesting reasons leading to the scandal. The doppelgängers pose a danger for all the lost souls wandering in the desert, since they seek to destroy the original and move forward to a metaverse free of human suffering.

It follows a year in the life of a family in the North-Eastern part of Finland. From the gloomy days of winter to the Mid Summer wedding festivities.

A documentary about girls and horses, care and competition, the unique world of youth and growing into adulthood.