Discoveries from Finland World Cinema

Asko Mertanen is a waiter who is very interested in shooting. He gets fed up how the things are run in Finland, so he thinks that the best way to change them is to shoot the Finnish president.

Kelet is a twentysomething black trans woman, whose greatest dream is to be on the cover of Vogue magazine. For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, such models as Naomi Campbell and Iman served as role models giving her strength – and during the darkest times, kept her alive. After coming out, then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family and she moved back to Finland on her own.

Jussi is a magazine editor who lives in an inherited apartment in Kruununhaka with his sister Eeva, who works as a summer editor, and his flight attendant girlfriend Leena.

Finnish black metal is known for its extreme views and merciless no-compromise approach. As a music genre, black metal often has a strong ideological aspect. Satanic values, glorification of evil and unsolidarity, as well as pure hatred towards Christian and multicultural society, are more than just childish rebellion for the people involved. Eternal Flame of Gehenna examines the phenomena through interviewing the key figures of the moment. It gives a face to a subculture seen as a threat to common safety by Finnish Security Intelligence. In this movie, one will find out about the thoughts of a grave violator, grave robber, and hear what they feel when an old wooden church is burning down. Eternal Flame of Gehenna is also a view on the history and the current state of Finnish black metal, featuring bands like Azaghal, Azazel, Barathrum, Beherit, Enochian Crescent, Goatmoon, Horna, Satanic Warmaster etc.

Rouva Presidentti is a documentary on Tarja Halonen, the 11th President of Finland. The movie follows Halonen for one and a half years, during her last times as President.

Mauno, an orphan boy, moves from the countryside to Tampere to live with his foster parents, Iida and Eero, who support him in his music studies. As an adult, Mauno travels to Helsinki to search for Helena, a Karelian girl he rescued during the war, who is studying violin. At first, the girl does not recognize Mauno, but a joint concert changes the situation.

A young couple head to their son's grave to seek solace for their broken hearts, but as the sun sets, the memories turn into a nightmare.

The documentary tells the story of the political scandal caused by the book 'The Spoils of Tamminiemi' from the perspective of the journalists who wrote it. The time of the book's publication was the worst time of the Finlandization, Soviet spies worked behind the scenes and the power struggle was heating up, who would be successor of the President Kekkonen? The authors of the book appeared under pseudonyms, but the subjects of the writings were named, and it revealed everything that had been going on behind the scenes.

Manical portrait of a small businessman.

Story about human relationships, love and forgiveness.

Three sailors rescue Carmen, who has fallen into the clutches of the white slave trade, and also manage to destroy a drug gang.

Fate brings a young woman to idyllic Karelia in Russia, near the Russian-Finnish border. She meets an old woman, Santra, who represents the only remaining link to the Karelian culture of her ancestors. This film is about the difficulty and beauty of finding a home.

An early colour film tells the story of traditional customs in the Swedish speaking coastal region in Finland, neighboring Kristinestad.

Rebellious and upcoming filmmakers make their biggest film to date. Witness how the ambitious and topical film Free Skate came to life.

A documentary film that follows the lives of first-generation retired immigrants living in Finland.

Aarne Tarkas was a wunderkind of Finnish cinema, a director and screenwriter, a genius who possessed not only an infinite supply of ideas but also a photographic memory. In the 50s and 60s he had a profound impact on Finnish movies and TV.

A nun digs a man up from the ground and loses her grip on everyday life. Can secrets and harmony coexist?

The story of Finnish boxer Joni, who brings up a son Simppa from his relationship with Polish girlfriend Eva. The mother left them years ago and returned to Poland. Eve is about to marry, but she still loves Joni.

Little Matti, who has been living in the countryside with his grandmother, leaves for Helsinki to search for his missing mother, Kerttu. In the city, he is helped by Taneli, a homeless alcoholic artist, and Salme, a girl who lives with her alcoholic aunt.

After many mishaps, City Engineer Volmari arrives at the masquerade ball wearing a suit of knight's armor from the museum. He dances with his blind date crush Raili until Bertha, the black singer from the circus, pulls him away and a new whirlwind of misunderstandings begins.

Over the past 60 years, Erkki Rissanen has collected more than a million bottles from the streets of Tornio, and through his selfless cleaning efforts, he brings out the best in people. A heartwarming documentary about a life’s mission, recycling, and community spirit.

Twentysomething Petri got over a break-up by pushing his credit card limit in order to buy stuff. Still, after three years, the anxiety remains, so all things must go into a storage container. For a year, Petri allows himself to retrieve only one item per day. New life begins naked next to a radiator.

Tanja Bulkova arrives in Finland under the name Toini Salonen and, with the help of spy chief Rosenberg, becomes the secretary of engineer Rautavuori and discovers the drawings of a secret invention.

Far in the future, in a place that was once called Finland, there lives a people whose history is shrouded in mystery. A mythical song describes the past, but it is not enough for the Young One. Fortunately, there is a sect in nearby fen that preserves ancient knowledge.

Jill and Joy receive a mission from their neighbors Tingelstein and Tangelstein: the ladies send the girls to look after their absentminded inventor brother Gadgetus. Jill and Joy get to know the wonders of Gadgetus’s farm, but everything is at risk of being destroyed when Samuel Shortcut arrives on his bulldozer, ready to destroy everything so that a new highway can be built in the area. Jill and Joy save the farm with the help of a device invented by Gadgetus, but before that they have to get to know the world of dreams and find help from there. Armstrong, a miniature pig, also takes part in the adventure and helps Jill and Joy, along with the other people living in Rose Alley.

Metro trains disappear on the turning track, only to immediately return on the same route. Tapio (57), Toni (42) and Aksa (60) are also stuck on these tracks. The men meet every morning in the square behind the Herttoniemi metro station, from where they transfer to Vuosaari in the metro's "restaurant car". Men's lives are dominated by alcohol and unemployment. The turning track of dreams follows the lives of Tapio, Toni and Aksa for a year - moments filled with joy, despair, self-destruction and friendship in the metro stations and trains of Eastern Helsinki. It gives voice to those who do not have special human dignity in the eyes of society.

Log driver brothers and crooks compete in trying to find loot of an old bank robbery in a supposedly haunted inn.

Alex is left alone for the weekend to renovate a room for his and his wife's unborn child. Soon, a baby monitor starts to play him haunting, horrifying sounds about his future failures as a father.

For the past years, 62-year-old Helmi has been taking care of her demanding mother. When her mother dies, she is suddenly able to do a lot of things she has not been able to do for a very long time and she is courted by the much younger leader of her church choir.

In the 1910s, beautiful young Silja loses both parents and ends up working as a maid at wealthier farms around her village. She is courted by a number of bachelors, ranging from simple farmhand Väinö to sophisticated young student Armas whom she meets when working for a charming old professor. However, Silja's health starts to deteriorate, and when the Finnish Civil War breaks up in 1918, she is inadvertently involved in a small incident after which her loyalties are questioned by both the Reds and the Whites.

Olavi, a farmer's son, leaves his home after a dispute with his father and leads a life of a womanizing logger.

Eetu's family moves from the countryside to the city, where the only natural feature in the neighborhood, a beautiful pond, is in danger of being buried under a planned parking lot. The underwater kingdom of frogs in the pond is threatened with inevitable destruction. Eetu and his friend Konna the frog are also in danger, because Konna has brought a remarkable device from the frog world to the surface, which is immediately noticed by the intelligence services of the world's leading superpowers. The superpowers want to get their hands on this revolutionary technology!

A stepfather forces Liisa, an orphan girl, to leave her small town and go to Helsinki alone to sell brooms. With the help of a friendly vagrant named Maailman-Petteri and a homeless dog named Musti, Liisa prevents a burglary, and a kind police officer named Rinne and his wife help all the homeless people start a new life.

The story of Leena and Kai, a couple working in the rescue services, whose relationship falls into crisis as Kai becomes exhausted and depressed.

A romantic comedy about 30-year-old Leo and a 40-year-old, pregnant single mother of three, Maarit.

Two 9-year-old boys, Jontti and Länki, grow up in a Finnish seaside town in the 1960s. Länki's biggest dream is to run away on a ship to the sea where his father is rumoured to have died. Jontti too must discover that his father is not what he appears to be. When his dad moves away with another woman, Jontti is determined to win him back.

Mark’s life changes for the worse. His so called "friends" try to help him find a reason to keep going, but reality strikes hard. In the end, they’re all just trying to do what they think is best for themselves.

Young sailor Arvi falls in love with a dance girl Kerttu in a Spanish tavern, who says that she is half-Finnish and wants to go find her real father.

A comedy of crime, romance and deception played out against the background of a vacation under the Mediterranean sun.

Sini is waiting for her husband to return from a trip and starts thinking about her past relationship with Jaska. She invites him to a party, where old feelings resurface. Afterwards, they go to an island they used to visit and confront their memories and the past of their relationship

Pepe Willberg has travelled a winding road to this day, to the hearts of Finns and unlikely stardom. What has it all been like for a man who, in the beginning, sang only on condition that the lights in the hall were turned off? Written and directed by Severi Koivusalo, PEPE is a musical documentary about a talented musician with a unique voice, who struggles to balance his popularity with his passion for music, whose iconic songs have been playing in the background of Finnish life through seven different decades.

A fable about a goblin and a fairy that become fast friends.

In the remote village of Hurula, the mistress of the house has forbidden her henpecked husband from enjoying himself and playing the accordion. The ceremonious host Ernesti courts the Hurulas' daughter Pirkko to be his wife. However, she falls in love with the village's new cantor Pelle, but multiple misunderstandings have completely complicated matters.

Unemployed actor Kati gets a job as a tomato on a commercial. Turns out that the gig is not what she expected.

In 1980, Finland’s most famous hypnotist Olavi Hakasalo, a.k.a Olliver Hawk, was put on trial. His mission in life had been to spread the gospel of the power of suggestion, and he was willing to risk everything to become a player of political influence on the big stage. But in the corridors of power, with a nation’s destiny at stake, an eccentric loudmouth sitting on too many secrets is considered a liability.

Set in turn of the century Helsinki, author Arvo Helavalla's novel makes an indelible impression on adolescent Auli Ranta. She idolizes the author of a work that can never be forgotten.

On Christmas Eve, Atte, a family man failed at life, has decided to end it all. However, an unexpected visitor arrives, bringing him a Christmas surprise.

The summer ahead is long and hot but the burden of shame from the past is haunting Joonas, 24, and driving him to solitude. A sudden phone call changes the direction of his summer and brings Joonas to an old manor for a summer job, forcing him to open up to his new workmates and to face his shame. Joonas works hard under the burning sun, driven by his past mistakes, whilst the others lounge under the calming shade of trees. On the last day the group loses track of time and misses the last bus home. They are left at the old manor and a magical midsummer night begins.

A typically idiosyncratic mini-mystery about a middle-aged man who gets out of prison, sells his shares in a company and announces that he’s heading off to Siberia to get married. Central scene, in which he convinces a woman to come with him, takes place in a Finnish rockabilly club. The Hitchcockian pacing, as the man endeavours to make his train, supplies nice momentum, and wrap-up provides a satisfying revelation as to what’s actually afoot.

Eero Luotola is a pilot operating in Kalliosaari, whose crush is Annikki, who lives in the same village. They have known each other since childhood and have promised to get married at some point.

While living separated, Mr. Kaski finds out that her wife has written a book about their marriage. And the book is not very flattering in tone towards Mr. Kaski and his abilities as a man.

Pianist Lauri Alango and his wife Annina's fortune is cracked when opera diva Delia Rosati attracts Lauri to accompany her on tour.

Sailor is brought by the police as a recruit to the navy.

A story set in post-war Helsinki, where the last released prisoners of war arrive. They are accompanied by Captain Erkki Lahtinen, who returns to his home and back to his wife Jenni. However, during his four-year imprisonment, Erkki has been pronounced dead and Jenni has remarried to office manager Nevamaa.

Master Kaarlo Auer, who has achieved fame as the author of a successful novel, travels to a small town to meet Anna, the widow of his late friend Martti Vainio. Their daughter Virve Vainio finds an old calendar in the attic, in which an entry reveals literary theft.