Discoveries from Finland World Cinema

A short film capturing the timeless struggle between oppressor and oppressed in an era where forgetfulness becomes the deadliest weapon against freedom.

Two shoeshiner homeless brothers named Zana and Dana live on the edge of survival. They catch a glimpse of Superman through a hole in the wall at the local cinema and decide that they want to go to America in order to meet Superman.

The Diver is a hymn to diving and the aesthetics of movement. It is a dreamlike collage of movement, music and narration honouring the most beautiful sport there is. Helge Wasenius (b. 1927), The Grand Old Man of divers, is the principal character in the film, a colourful daredevil of the sport.

UNKNOWN REDUX is a short movie by Anssi Määttä and Antti Tuominen, where events depicted happen in a fictitious Finland and it's alternative history.

Jukka, 13, is coached in photography by his openly gay art teacher. With his dead father's old camera, Jukka sees Johanna, a beautiful girl in her early twenties being physically abused by her stepfather. With the help of the local fire department, Jukka comes to her rescue. He quickly befriends the girl who works in a nearby supermarket, claims to become her manager and enters her in a beauty contest.

Fire, water, wind, earth and emptiness... Five core elements of life that once inspired a book. The Book of Fate. Far away from here there was a mythical world -free of suffering and injustice. But it wasn't enough. People wanted to play God... They created a pen to control the Book of Fate. Mightier than a sword, it could write off deeds -and bring back the dead. But the book gave power, power caused fear -and fear brought suffering. And the suffering caused wars. Darkness fell on earth, making demands on the pen and the book. But the book was gone. It was thought to be lost forever -but hundreds of years later it reappeared on a small planet called Earth. The prophecy says: Only the chosen will get a second chance from the book. The destiny of the chosen one is to guide the book back. But his journey will be long, filled with errors and grief. This is his story.

A woman who has been raped by a man at a party plots and executes an elaborate and humiliating revenge.

In the heat of the night, a man from faraway plays the piano. In the local hillside prison, a bitter double-crossed convict stares at the city life over the roofs. A revenge is brewing in his mind; the blood-thirsty killer prepares his escape. Vares gets a client who needs private investigations. Despite the beautiful wife, Vares smells a rat... In the middle of the summer night, a shot rings out. One life comes to an end and Vares finds changes in his assignment. The clues lead him to first-hand encounters and second-hand bookshops; a visit to the gym reveals a drug-smuggling route from Stockholm... Vares finds himself entangled in hot money and cool silk. In the background slithers a cunning garter snake.

This movie is about Iiris Vaara. She turns 30 and meets young director Marko. All dreams come true but does Marko share her dreams?

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.

Antti Pasanen is working as a journalist. His life is on the right tracks; his wife Pia is just about to give birth. Until - in the front of the Maternity Hospital everything changes. Antti, with the sniffling baby in his arms, sees the taxi´s taillights fading out. Pia is sitting on the backseat; their future as a nuclear family is disappearing. The new life with the baby´s terms begins and Antti has no idea what that’s all about.

Living in the Herttoniemi suburb in Eastern Helsinki, 12 year olds Antti and Muhis have been best friends since kindergarten. Muhis is from a Somali background, and the boys’ friendship is put to test when a local racist lays his hands on Muhis. A struggle ensues, and Antti accidentally shoves the man off of a cliff, into the sea. The boys swear never ever to tell anyone and to take their secret to their graves. Changes is a life-affirming film about friendship, growing up, tolerance and courage.

Alma is a young ambitious woman working in her own small company in Barcelona. She is happy in life but constantly dreams of a bigger project that she could work on together with her friends. A project that would bring in their first million. The opportunity finally arises and they buy an old building with a plan to renovate it into luxury apartments. But how to get rid of old tenants without hurting their feelings and without losing your own morals? Furthermore, how to survive from a free fall when you lose all you have? Alma de Sant Pere is a film about dreams, friendships and human values.

1938: Shostakovich encourages his pupil Fleischmann to write an opera based on the Chekhov story 'Rothschild's violin'. Fleischmann is killed during the siege of Leningrad. Shostakovich completes the orchestration, but in 1948 is advised to suppress the opera, during Stalin's campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans". Jewish motifs enter Shostakovich's own work.

In the middle of the summer holidays, the body of a drowned man with ligature marks on his wrists is recovered from Tammerkoski river. The investigation by Koskinen's team is further strained by the hit-and-run case of a dubious music manager and the mysterious Carl Friedrich. When a new body is found in Lake Näsijärvi, the connection between the victims is made clear.

Eero’s career as an author is spiraling down: he just can’t get started with his new novel. The ambitious actor Pihla is about to get her international break. Neither of them is willing to sacrifice their career even though their relationship is doing worse than ever. Void is a comedy-drama about the price of success and the agony of failure, and about situations where your partner just doesn’t get it.

Viltteri, a balding guy in his thirties living in rural northern Finland, is hopelessly clueless about his new role as a married man and the father of a newborn son. A perfect escape from family responsibilities is having to get his old Hillman Minx repaired and inspected for road-worthiness, with a little help from an eccentric bunch of friends who never seem to have grown up either.

An comedy set in 1960s Helsinki. The story revolves around Elsa, a resolute hatmaker who is in complete control of her life. Besides running her shop, she sometimes doubles as a fortune teller. When Jan, a Czechoslovakian jazz musician and Elsa's old lover comes to town to perform at a "peace and friendship festival", her well-organised life is jolted out of balance.

The Grump prepares to die – everything is done and his wife is dead. He’s making his own coffin when the life walks in, all of a sudden. The granddaughter needs the stubbornness and wisdom of her grandpa. In return, The Grump gets a meaning for his life – and a big secret.

Mervi is a gay girl living in the hipster quarters of Helsinki. She has been together with Kata for a year, and now they are encouraged by the circumstances to come out from closet. When they do, Mervi realises that she is not the only one in her family with secrets – her parents have been living in an open-bisexual-swinger-relationship for 20 years. On the other hand Kata is pretty surprised that she might be living with a hetero girl that once was dating a neo-nazi. And the ex-boy friend cannot swallow that Mervi is now with a person both of wrong color, and sex. The real threat appears when Kata’s parents arrive from Berlin and the local skinhead chief finds out that a black muslim celebrity politician has arrived to town.

In his youth, the author Frej has already found a deep connection and passion with an upper-class girl, Stella Rabell, that has lasted between them through the decades. When Stella's older brother Alex falls victim to a stabbing attack, Frej begins to reminisce about the events of decades past. Frej's memories from the bright 1970s to the present day are filled with love, jealousy, betrayal, life and death.

Tuula's husband Jukka takes care of all domestic chores. Tuula seems to have no idea that her husband spends his evenings working as a major league ice hockey referee. She also finds out about his extra-marital affair with a female rally driver. In revenge, Tuula starts seeing her gynecologist Timo Paasi, a married man with six children.

Marjaleena, a 60-year-old drunk ex-beauty pageant, runs a low end bar in Spain’s Costa del Sol. She discovers that her criminal husband Worm is about to get out of jail and is planning a dream life with his new cell-mate lover. Together with an uncanny crew Marjaleena sets off to get her share of her husbands millions.

Hanna is a 30 something single woman from Helsinki. She has a good job and great friends and has almost given up on finding the Mr. Right. One night, Hanna meets Markus, a dark stranger who sweeps her off her feet.

The film tells about members of Finnish women's Lotta Service during the Second World War through the eyes of three young women.

Remu grew up in modest conditions. He dropped out from schoold during his teen age years and is making career as a small time criminal. His family's destiny is about to come true, and it's going to be the usual: jail, alcoholism and violent death. After learning about rock music Remu learns to play drums and pushes himself into different bands. His first time in jails interrupts his music career, but after being released he starts his own band; Hurriganes.

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

Traumatized Niina needs a change of scenery and a moment of escape from the world. Together with her friend Suvi, they rent a villa in the countryside. Soon the women find they are not welcome, and it doesn't help that they find themselves in the middle of fateful twists and turns and unwittingly become involved in a mysterious ancient cult. One night, a ragtag group of ancient pagan worshiping locals invade the villa to demand reparations for the women's actions and to perform their rituals. Having survived the atrocities, Niina begins to gather her strength with only one goal in mind - revenge!

Finnish men in sauna, speaking straight from the heart.

Helga Suotorppa has given birth to an illegitimate child while working as a maid. Inkeri, the kind-hearted mistress of the Lehtola house, offers the woman, who has a bad reputation in the village community, a place to work, which the desperate Helga gratefully accepts. She supports Mauria, who is in trouble after being abandoned by his rich and proud fiancée Hildur.

Two Finnish men agree to drive an Estonian woman and a Russian woman to a harbor.

A comedy about a chaotic morning in a family with kids, and a mother who is determined that it's best to take care of everything herself.

A comedy about a social studies professor opposing a dockworkers strike ending up working at the docks by mistake and having his worldview turn upside down.

Finland in the 50s saw a time where boats from all over the world docked in the harbor city of Kotka. In addition to transporting goods, the sailors brought with them another import: jazz, swing and blues. A tale of music-loving, fearless and passionate young men decide to open Fennia, a jazz bar. Soon Fennia achieves legendary status and the men; the Harbour Brothers, play their music and hold court like emperors.

Grump's life follows the same familiar routines: spring is here and the early potato harvest is ripening. But Grump crashes his beloved Ford Escort and the car has to be scrapped. A new, modern vehicle is no match for quality and the nearest Escort, a 1972 model, can be found in Germany. When the Grumps's sons refuse to help, he must travel to Germany alone.

It is the summer of 1941. An eastern-Finnish machine gun company receives an order to turn in their surplus equipment. The company is transferred to the front lines. The next morning the soldiers wake to the sound of guns – the war has begun.

Sylvi's child is run over by a bus, prompting her to drink poison. She goes blind in the process, causing her husband to lust after her much younger sister. After undergoing a dangerous operation to regain her sight, she hides her repaired vision behind dark eyeglasses, so she can spy on her sister and husband as they carry on their affair.

After 52 years of armed conflict the FARC guerrillas are about to hand over their arms in exchange for political participation and social inclusion of the poor. Ernesto is one of them. The much celebrated Colombian peace agreement throws Ernesto and the polarised society around him into chaos in which everyone is afraid of the future and their own survival.

A fluid documentary in which director Luostarinen interviews fifty women on birth, body image, and the harshness of contemporary attitudes toward physicality, aging, and inevitable death. The focus is on female bodies, their variety, and the prejudices, processes, and living to which they - and the souls within them - are subjected.

Jonathan Ross interviews the inscrutable Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki at The Midnight Sun Film Festival during the release of 'The Match Factory Girl' along with comments from friends, colleagues and fans including highlights from his previous films.

Life on a farm in Kitkankoski is disrupted when construction of a hydroelectric power plant begins in the area. Determined Emma, who has returned from America, and stubborn local farmer Jeremias Junnila clash when Junnila refuses to produce milk for the construction site. At the same time, a romance blossoms between Junnila's daughter Hillevi and Eero, who works at the construction site, but Eero is not the only worker who seeks Hillevi's love.

18 year old Juri is seriously addicted to online gaming, so much so he becomes isolated from his single mother and pushes his girlfriend to the brink of leaving him. He decides to quit, but is soon lured back by one of his net-mates, Niki, who - when they meet for the first time - turns out to look strikingly like Juri. Niki has a web-address tattooed on his arm and when Juri types it into his computer, he gets drawn into a curious game that grants him the username RAT KING. As the game becomes increasingly dangerous, Niki vows to help Juri get through it. But the game triggers a series of life-threatening events and pretty soon Juri realizes that he is gaming for his life.

Based on a novel of the same name by the Finnish author, Antti Tuuri, this delicious late-80's comedy builds its dark humour on the stereotypical mentality of the northern part of Finland. While perhaps not as entertaining to a person unfamiliar with Finnish traditions, the brilliant acting, directing, plus the warm, beautiful Finnish summer more than make up for the cultural gap.The story begins with a group of brothers with their families coming up to honour the memory of their recently deceased father. Spending time together, opening old wounds and creating new ones... it all boils down to brotherhood. No matter what happens, brothers take care of their own.

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.

When carefree, young Lenni and his girlfriend find themselves expecting a child, he ends up looking for a role model in all the wrong places as he becomes involved with local right-wing activists.

A buddy comedy about a fanatic small town football supporter who falls in love with a perfect girl, only to notice that his dream-girl supports the wrong football team. Now he has to befriend the enemy or forget the girl he loves.

Most of us think of death as something clear-cut, and that medical science has it neatly figured out. This feature documentary explodes such assumptions through its exploration of a phenomenon that blurs life and death to an unprecedented degree. In what Tibetan Buddhists call tukdam, advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation; remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death. Following ground-breaking scientific research into tukdam and taking us into intimate death stories of Tibetan meditators, the film juxtaposes scientific and Tibetan perspectives as it tries to unravel the mystery of tukdam.

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning begins with Captain James B. Pirk of the starship Kickstart shipwrecked on the 21st century Earth with his crew. Originally from the distant future, Pirk and his crew traveled back in time to save the Earth from hostile aliens, but lost their ship and became stranded. Pirk's daily routine consists mainly of stuffing his face at the local fast food restaurant, and he is finding it difficult to convince the ladies he is, in fact, an intergalactic space hero from the future. As the prospects for humanity's conquest of space look increasingly bleaker, Pirk comes up with a questionable plan to save mankind's future...

Somebody Should Do Something tells a story of insecurity and longing for freedom, of fear that drives people to poor choices. The main character, Elvis, falls for the new girl in class, Onerva. Seeking acceptance from his friends, Elvis lies and tells them he’s had sex with Onerva. Due to the lies and misunderstandings, the whole town is soon at a point where somebody should do something.

Police officer gets back to work after getting a wheelchair. Nothing is the same and even the gun must be given away.

Kerttu is assigned to a gym due to back problems, where it turns out she is a genetic super-talent. Suddenly, she finds herself aiming for an incredible goal: a fitness championship. She is aided by a former genetic prodigy, journeyman bodybuilder Vili, who has lost his purpose in life. The mismatched duo have a lot to learn from each other. Before Kerttu can get into shape for the competition and Vili back on the road to life, both must grow as people and overcome steep prejudices.

In 1931, following the success of the film Battleship Potemkin, Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein travels to the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, to shoot a new film. Freshly rejected by Hollywood, Eisenstein soon falls under Mexico’s spell. Chaperoned by his guide Palomino Cañedo, the director opens up to his suppressed fears as he embraces a new world of sensual pleasures and possibilities that will shape the future of his art.

A young and promising Russian figure skater is found beaten and frostbitten in a lay-by of a motorway in Finland. In the hospital, the officials find a letter from her belongings and are able to reconnect her with her Finnish grandmother, whom she has not seen for years. With the help of her grandmother, who offers her the shelter of her home, the figure skater tries to re-establish herself and recover from the trauma and inhumane circumstances that forced her to flee from Russia. She finds a new chance with top figure skating, but despite the bright future, new friends and possibilities, her past won’t let go of her. The figure skater realizes facing her troubled past is the only option to make it to the top.

Sergeant Friman is developing an automatic submarine detector that piques the interest of both, Swedish and Russian spies.

25-year-old Iiris and Karoliina have been best friends since childhood. Karoliina has been travelling and living abroad for some years now, but is coming back home for the summer as Karoliina has gotten them a job as waitresses in Hanko, the best summer city in Finland!

Katri's husband has died in the Finnish Winter War. When the Continuation War begins, Katri volunteers to work in a Helsinki military hospital. She is courted by a patient, a poetry-reciting countryman bound to be released from service. In the same time, she dates old school friend Eero who even goes AWOL to be near her. As the war continues, Katri has to make difficult decisions about her life.

The story of Kari Tapio, who sang his way into the hearts of the Finns in the 70's and whose popularity lasted until his death in 2010.

When her sister is mugged and raped, Oili, a young female forensic dentist, meets a group of abused women who have taken matters to their own hands to make the living in fear and just letting it happen stop.

Friends meet after years apart and go on a road trip, to escape from their everyday lives. The trip takes some unexpected turns along the way, but will they find answers to the questions that are troubling them?

Two 18-year old girls from a christian fundamentalist community flee to a city for a summer job.