Discoveries from Finland World Cinema

American photojournalist Sarah Simmons arrives in a remote Finnish village to begin a new career as a nature photographer. In the bear lands of Kainuu, she finds a peaceful nature hide for her photoshoot but when she accidentally witnesses a group of poachers killing a hibernating bear, everything changes. The hunters target Sarah and she must flee deep into the forest. Soon Sarah realizes she is being followed by something else too: a malevolent bear spirit that wants revenge.

A little girl does her best to ruin her relatives' coffee moment. It seems that there's a special place for mischievous children.

Documentary describing the curious of tendency of old historic buildings to burn in the city of Oulu.

The destinies of different kind of people encounter in a passenger train that is traveling from Helsinki to the North. One tragedy after the other appears.

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.

A short documentary in which the Finnish juice brand icon Kari Grandi and his band perform at various venues.

Tom Mack falls in love with fashion designer Leila Linna. Romance develops, with a little diamond smuggling to keep things interesting.

A dead Swan leads to reemerging life

Aspiring young comedian Hepi rides a moped and sleeps in cars left at a garage for repair. He joins a group of older but equally bad comedians trying to capture and sell their art on videotape. Hepi charms a girl working in the Zoological Museum with his imitations of bird sounds. Alienated look at the frustrations of show business, as presented by a cast of popular Finnish TV comedians with their absurd dialogue and eccentric inside jokes.

Remembering the past, Rea returns to the moment that changed her life. Coming of age, Rea's alcoholic fate is wrapped around two men, composer Tauno Tarras and sea captain Erkki.

A film about Finnish skateboarding and its history.

High-class prostitute Bella works for hotel manager TT with Sara, Lulu and Cindy. However, Bella misses the ordinary life and love of her youth Timo, who is a hockey player on the team owned by TT.

Martha's problem is balancing work and family. According to her husband Juho and father-in-law Kalle, the mother's place is at home with the child and not at work. Only her mother-in-law Ilona encourages Martta to advance in her career.

Ville Pirinen is a hard rocking visual arts freelancer and a musician living in Tampere, Finland. He plays in a multitude of bands including Black Audio, Seremonia, Steel Mammoth and draws and writes comics such as “Ornette Birks Makkonen” and “Yhesti yhes paikas”.

The three girls catch the eye of the handsome lumberjack when the city kids happen to camp near the lumberjack's cabin during their bike trip. Liisa runs away from her friend's advances into the forest and ends up as the mistress of the lumberjacks, who resemble the seven dwarfs from the classic fairy tale.

A high schooler is thrown between a rock and a hard place when his past starts to haunt him.

Sisters Marjaana and Kreeta live alone in a deteriorating country house. Their mother has abandoned them and left in search of the world’s richest man.

Documentary film about the Swiss multidisciplinary artist H. R. Giger, who has become known, for example, as the designer of the monster in the Alien films. A journey to consciousness through Giger's art and ideas.

In the last hours of the night, A Night Radio host gets a call of a possible end of the world.

The events surrounding a factory in a small town are gone through in documentary style.

A snowboard production by Pablo Films.

Police officer from the dystopian future gets killed in a porn shop that sells euthanasia services.

When the general manager of the factory, Lumiala returns from his travels, he learns that his wife Anna has hired a young man named Oras as an office assistant. Anna, who feels Oras is the fruit of his youthful sin, is ready to defend the boy despite his family's petitions and Ora's crimes. Ora's girlfriend Pansy also tries to keep him on the right track.

Linda is a rapper and a woman who after getting brutally assaulted by her boyfriend decided to leave the drug scene and started to pursue her dreams and build a new life.

After the death of his friend Katrina, a teenaged detective is hunted down by his town's most infamous killer, Kevin. Once he discovers the truth, he finds Kevin knocking on his door.

Film editor struggles with an edit with horrible resolution.

Linda is a young psychology student, who wants to help his boyfriend Riku, who has fallen into a state of psychosis by taking him to a mystical cave, where human subconscious and memories start to live their own life. Linda soon realises that she can't help Riku, before she has faced her own most painful traumas.

From building material to finished building.

After 25 years in office, President Kekkonen stepped down as president due to health issues in autumn 1981. Soon after, Mainostelevisio MTV produced a programme in which Väinö Linna, Eero Mäntyranta, Matias Keskinen as well as numerous ordinary Finns talk about the significance of Urho Kekkonen.

A experimental short using public domain footage made in Kino Obscure 2020.

About the project 'NoCore: Untold', where gestures of physical theatre and dance techniques meet for expressing the stories of people at the margins of society related to gender identity, ethnicity and cultural background.

Europe is a mortally sick woman who is killing time with her Chinese Man Machine. They are at their last post. Outside lies a snow covered wasteland. Elsewhere, on a glacier is an institute, where a group of nurses are faithfully playing their regressive part in the execution of a new world order. Their trance is disrupted by a stranger. All is lost. The final act is about to begin.

An unemployed actor falls in love with a theater director, who gives him work. Both of them are in relationships, and their little lies gradually pile up into bigger ones.

The dialogue heard in the background is based on a correspondence that has taken place since 2021 between visual artist Miia Autio and Beninese medium and traditional healer Koffi Robert Djossou. Through this exchange, the artist seeks to explore a worldview unfamiliar to her – that of Vodun, the world’s largest nature-based religion. The work is a dive into Vodoun’s invisible realm and into questions concerning the relationship between belief, images, and reality. The pursuit of the invisible world initiated a personal process for the artist, in which various messages, dreams, and whispers of wind began, almost of their own accord, to carry the story forward.

A comedic information film from the Ministry of Finance. A barrage of questions from a reporter led by Lasse Pöysti reveals where inflation is lurking.

Elina and Lara love each other. But is it enough?

Master violist Anton Lardozo rounds around Europe by performing and spending all his free time in restaurants. While he is visiting in Finland, he leaves with his friend Eero for country and stays in the inn of Harakkala. Lardozo falls in love with country girl named Kirsi but soon one of his lady friends, Tanja, arrives from Paris.

"Vesku from Finland" is a film about Vesa-Matti Loiri alias Vesku, probably the most popular film and TV comedian in Finland. He has created a significant career also as a singer, performer, writer and as a sportsman. He has recorded several albums, from folk songs and couplets to tangos. Some of his recordings are based on the lyrics of Hermann Hesse or Eino Leino, the infamous Finnish poet. During his unique career he has played in more than 60 films and recorded 30 albums.

The documentary dives intimately behind the scenes of the Finnish National Opera and sucks the viewer in like the best of thrillers. The three hours fly by, even for those who aren’t necessarily interested in opera as an art form.

Journalist Sanni visits the countryside to write about the timber industry. Looking for a room she is immediately thrust into the merry community of loggers, always up for a song, but one of them, Hurma-Jussi, is a little too persistent. Luckily, she is “saved” by the handsome lumberjack Eräs.

A selfish angel in a single-take.

Mikko's wife and children have moved in with another man. Unhappy Mikko unexpectedly receives a letter from his old friend Aki. Aki invites Mikko to join him in Haaravaara for a hunting trip. The hunting trip turns into a meeting between two very unhappy men after many years apart.

A middle-aged man and a teenager with everything to lose. These two strangers in very different situations meet unexpectedly and end up saving each other. Or do they?

An animation based on a short story by Franz Kafka about a country doctor interrupted by an alarm clock on a quiet home evening. In a bomb-ravaged room are waiting a dying child and a group of black market traders playing cards.

The introductory film of the Finnish Transport Workers' Union contains images of the union's activities and the transportation of goods using various vehicles, as well as the unloading and loading of cargo.

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

A group of friends in 2006 attempt to make ambitious film but everything goes wrong.

The Kind Stranger is a moving, at times comical film about the ASMR community, whose members try to ease each other’s pain by making youtube videos of tender care, quiet whispers and close up attention. We see the many hours of work that “ASMR artists” put into making their videos – and their presence and sincerity. In the age of anxiety, ASMR aspires to fulfill our ancient, primal needs. We are all a bit broken, but human beings are incredibly inventive when it comes to finding ways to reach out to our kind.

Triangle comedy about a movie crew shooting a no-budget artsy film. Director Pohja is a clumsy beginner, cinematographer Törrönen an old pro, and the leading actors Igor and Merju first detest each other although the script is supposed to make them lovers. The two gradually grow closer even in real life, but the director too has set his eyepiece on Merju.

Varjoja Radalla is a documentary film about surviving traumatic incidences. The film is following stories of train drivers who have all unwillingly be part of fatality caused by suicides and accidents. These fatalities are common in Finland and as often as once per week, at least one person gets killed by a locomotive. These incidences cause great deal of emotional pain and many drivers are suffering from PTSD. The film is showing how peer support and talking is helping these people to release their pain. The film is focused on one weekend in a countryside where group of train drivers are talking about their experiences and what has helped them to move on with their lives.

A child discovers life inside a dead bird and starts to play with it.

Unemployed girl shoplifts in department store. Son of a wealthy family notice the shoplifting but won't turn her in. After awhile they are seen together and press thinks they are engaged.

In the small village of Nuottaniemi live Iisakki and his daughter Hanna. Iisakki bears a grudge against Heikki, blaming him for the death of his son in a timber rafting accident. To make things worse, Heikki's son Juhani wants to marry Hanna but she only has eyes for the lumberjack Antti.

Republic of Finland is promoting clean technology by organizing Green Mining seminars where foreign experts tell us how the development of the world is becoming increasingly expensive by 2050. The Earth is running out of resources and mining companies have to use increasingly low-grade metal deposits. Finland aims to be a model country for environmentally friendly mining. Its pioneer project is Talvivaara, which uses new biotechnology to extract nickel, zinc and uranium. Through several charismatic characters, the documentary film The Land Of Mine follows the rise of the biggest nickel mine in Western Europe and the ensuing disasters whose effects continue to reverberate in the nation.

A traffic warden runs into a surprising argument with a persisting customer.

To cherish the memory of their mother, siblings take matters into their own hands.

When a precious violin is snatched by gangsters, an ex-hitman wreaks some serious martial-vengeance in an effort to reclaim it.

The loneliest man in the suburbs opens his door to a stranger and gets caught up in the merry-go-round of love.

Peter von Bagh takes us on a trip to his homeland and Oulu, a small Finnish town, tracing the turbulent changes it has undergone in the 20th century. A life of the filmmaker, a history of his home and a history of cinema intersect in this magical film that works like a time machine. (text: International FIlm Festival Rotterdam