Finnish documentary film

Transcription

Fall/Winter 2011–2012
New Finnish Documentary Films
The Finnish Film Foundation
www.ses.fi
1
Contents
Meeting place between high and popular 2
Weather report for Finnish film 3
A dangerous accordion 10
The Punk Syndrome spreads joy 13
A paradise for film maniacs in Lapland 16
The long journey of a can of ravioli 19
Meeting place
between
high and popular
– Finnish documentary film
Film commissioner Elina Kivihalme 22
The documentary – dictated by its subject or the genre 24
Film festivals in Finland 2012 25
Feature-length documentary films:
Canned Dreams 28
Dance of Outlaws 28
Five Star Existence 29
Frozen Hell – Prisoners of War in Finland 1941 30
Helping Mihaela 31
Ice Age and the American Apartheid 32
The Punk Syndrome 36
Red Forest Hotel 34
Russian Libertine 35
Soundbreaker 38
Mid-length and short documentary films:
After Life – 4 Stories of Torture 26
Burden of My Heart 27
Leap 33
The Passenger 34
Soul Catcher 37
Virtual War 38
Contact information 39
Promotion of Short and Documentary Film
Marja Pallassalo
Head of Promotion, Short and Documentary Films
Tel. +358 9 6220 3021
[email protected]
Otto Suuronen
Assistant, Short and Documentary Film Promotion
Tel. +358 9 6220 3019
[email protected]
Kanavakatu 12, FI-00160 Helsinki
www.ses.fi
O
ur dear Norwegian neighbors used to have a
rating scale: boring, more boring, Finnish TV
drama. We Finns see more nuances. This fall
the TV Theater of the Finnish Broadcasting Company
YLE, which is also Finland’s largest theater, celebrates its
50th anniversary. Documentaries about the theater’s history are startling. They prove how much Finnish film –
fiction and documentaries – owe to the desire and ability
of the YLE TV Theater to renew visual and narrative expression. This is just one of the many things we can thank
YLE and its open-minded programming politics for.
Finland is known for documentaries. Roots can be
found in our fine tradition of ethnographic recording, but
we can also find roots in the YLE TV Theater productions. Many Finnish documentarians mention Mikko
Niskanen’s Eight Deadly Shots (Kahdeksan surmanluotia,
1972) as the best Finnish film. You can read more about
the film in Peter von Bagh’s interview on page 16. Our
strengths include people like von Bagh; with their fresh
ideas they have renewed our opinion on what documentaries can be. In the 1970s high culture and popular culture
were worlds apart in Finland. Peter von Bagh shook this
rigid state with his documentaries where the boundaries
between high and popular were blurred. The director
found a way into the hidden memory of the nation.
This journey continues in new Finnish films; we’ll introduce a number of them in this newsletter. Five Finnish
films will be screened at the 24th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. You’ll see more festival screenings of our films later in the winter and spring.
Finnish documentary is facing several threats, which
this newsletter discusses as well. We shouldn’t, however,
lose faith in the future. Besides its strong roots, Finnish
documentary is alive and well because the community of
documentarians and producers is so strong. Solidarity,
desire to understand the world and interest in the work of
other documentarians bring our documentary filmmakers
together. That is the future foundation for Finnish documentaries.
Marja Pallassalo
Head of Short and Documentary Film Promotion
2
Weather report for
Finnish film
The dubious operations of a Finnish forest products company. People losing themselves in
a technoculture. An old man and a child meet on a tram. A still camera and a human soul meet
on a beach. Four new Finnish documentaries in the IDFA program, four different directors.
What is it like to make films in Finland at the moment?
T
he recent years have been a bright and
interesting golden age for Finnish documentary. Films like Reindeerspotting
– Escape from Santaland (Reindeerspotting – pako Joulumaasta, 2010),
Steam of Life (Miesten vuoro, 2011), The Living Room
of a Nation (Kansakunnan olohuone, 2009) and Ito
– A Diary of an Urban Priest (Seitti – kilvoittelijan
päiväkirja, 2010) have toured film festivals and movie
theaters all over the world. Many filmmakers have had
a chance to make documentaries
on a number of subjects, and they
have been funded by a financing
“Financing
system that has had confidence
system is like a
in the expertise and ideas of the
house of cards
filmmakers. One of the key drivthat will collapse
ing forces behind the success of
if one card is
Finnish documentaries has been
pulled out”.
the Finnish Broadcasting company YLE, especially producer
Iikka Vehkalahti and a series of documentaries titled
Documentary Project (Dokumenttiprojekti). Thanks to
his determined work, many great films have been made.
Many filmmakers find it important that domestic
audiences are increasingly interested in documentaries.
DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival has
more and more audiences every year, and documentaries
have also been distributed theatrically.
Finland is also affected by the international financial
crisis. The state is under hard pressure to save money
and cut costs. The film industry was quite shocked
when cuts hit the financing of the Finnish Broadcasting
Company YLE and its funds allocated for film production. YLE’s share of film financing has decreased significantly, and the government is currently contemplating the future of the entire company.
This means challenging times for Finnish documentary. Documentaries are financed by a tripartite system
consisting of a TV broadcaster (often YLE), the Finnish Film Foundation and AVEK (the Promotion Centre
for Audiovisual Culture). Director Pia Andell, who
has also worked as production consultant at AVEK, says
that the financing system is like a house of cards that
will collapse if one card is pulled out. At the same time,
she says that filmmakers probably won’t stop developing ideas and making plans, even though YLE funding
would significantly decrease.
The relevant question is: What’s up next in Finnish
film?
A Finnish director vs. Chinese officials
Mika Koskinen is a Finnish news photographer and
director who has lived in Beijing for fifteen years. He
speaks fluent Chinese and thanks to his job, keeps a
keen eye on what’s happening in the country. His previous documentaries, White Panda (Valkoinen panda,
3
Milla von Konow
Mika Koskinen
1999), Zhang’s Diner (Ravintola Pekingissä, 2004) and
Facing Changes (Kasvot, 2008) are all set in China.
The starting point of Koskinen’s latest documentary,
Red Forest Hotel (Punaisen Metsän Hotelli) was the
director’s interest in Chinese climate policy and the
concrete measures that it consists of. The film will
compete in Green Screen at the 24th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) where it will
also have its world premiere.
The massive campaigns in China range from recycling to saving water and agitating citizens to plant
trees.
The well-meaning film project faces, however, an
absurd twist when the director is about to approach the
eucalyptus plantations of a Finnish-owned forest products company. When the director arrives in the province of Guangxi, he is joined by a number of friendly
Red Forest Hotel
4
and helpful local officials who won’t let him out of their
sight. Finally the director ends up in confinement at a
local hotel, and Kafkaesque twists take place.
Attention shifts from Chinese environmental protection strategies to Stora Enso, a
Finnish forest products company.
“Our possibilities What does the company have to
to make an
hide if the local administrative maimpact on the
chinery is used for spying on the
ethics of things intruder? In his film Koskinen asks
are blurred.”
what kind of relationship the company has with authorities.
The Finnish forest products
company exports forest industry know-how. This knowhow also depletes biodiversity, conquers land by dubious and somewhat brutal means and causes the locals to
feel deep bitterness towards multinational companies.
Red Forest Hotel
Five Star Existence
freak there. In the beginning it was difficult to break
through as a foreigner and make films in China.”
Everywhere and all the time
Director Sonja Lindén answers the phone and apologizes for not being able to answer her e-mails right
away, as she has spent the weekend on an island that
didn’t have Internet access as she had expected. An everyday example of what our working life is like but also
an absurd proof of the current nature of her film Five
Star Existence.
Lindén’s documentary has its premiere at IDFA and
will take part in the main competition of the festival,
which is for feature-length documentaries.
The film tells about the way technology develops
and how it affects the way we humans communicate.
Computers and cell phones are part of our daily lives,
and they have taught us to be efficient and ready to
Milla von Konow
When the Finnish director tries to help the locals, the
people who are in contact with him end up in trouble.
Irrefutable laws of global and local mix, and our possibilities to make an impact on the ethics of things are
blurred. Can a film director make the world a better
place?
“I’m most worried about climate change. Has China,
perhaps, adopted a model that other countries could
follow and thus change the world? I decided to find out
how it is carried out in practice. What happens when
market economy is added to it? We should learn from
Chinese indigenous people what sustainable living
really is. To respect nature and living with and being
part of it.”
Director Mika Koskinen’s makes documentaries on
subjects he is personally interested in, and he shoots
them over long periods of time. Red Forest Hotel is different from his previous films, as he himself is shown in
the documentary.
As all his projects have been set in China, he has
sought international funding for them. Koskinen starts
his work by shooting material on the subject to see if
the subject is suitable for a feature-length documentary. The material naturally helps when he looks for
financing.
On the other hand, as a Finnish director, he faces
doubts on the part of the financiers:
“People often want Chinese filmmakers to make
documentaries of China. In that sense, I’m a bit of a
Sonja Lindén
5
6
work anytime and anywhere. At the same we are available at all hours and in touch with numerous people,
both people we know but also strangers. Our communication habits have changed completely over the past 20
years. Are we, after all, ready for constant change and
the freedom of being available at all times but, at the
same time, losing our freedom?
The subject is very close to Lindén’s personal life.
The theme of freedom has been present in all her films.
The director puts herself and her life under scrutiny and
realizes she’s often more of a machine than a human being. Our times are stigmatized by a sense of insufficiency. Since the possibility to communicate is always there,
people end up doing ostensible things in a quasi-existence. Technology is unable to
create true closeness, and comRobots who
munication becomes superficial
and people feel less responsibility work 24 hours
a day are not that
for themselves and each other.
far from people
Lindén emphasizes the loss of
self-control. Robots who work in who type on
their computers
factories 24 hours a day building
in cafés.
cars are not that far from people
who type on their computers in
cafés and at home.
Sonja Lindén is especially known for her documentary No Man Is an Island (Ei kukaan ole saari, 2006).
This story of an old lonely man challenged viewers to
face the hermit within themselves and the longing for
complete freedom. The award-winning film has toured
several international film festivals. Sonja Lindén’s list of
merits include producing Mia Halme’s documentaries
Big Boy (Iso poika, 2007) and Forever Yours (Ikuisesti sinun, 2010), among others, and directing films
Gacaca – Awaiting Justice (Yhdeksän vuoden odotus, a
commissioned film that Lindén codirected with Miia
Haavisto in 2003), Breathing (Henkäys, 2002) and
Steps on a Yoga Path (Askelia joogatiellä, 2000), of
which the latter two she made in film school.
The production process of Five Star Existence had
multiple stages. Producer Leena Kemppi at YLE recommended the director participate in Nordic Talent, a
competition for graduating students from Nordic films
schools, in Copenhagen. Lindén won the competition with her project about the effects of radiation from
technology. The development and financing stage took
a couple of years and turned out to be very challenging. Lindén also produced the film and found balancing both roles in a project this size hard. At times the
producer, who was trying to secure financing for the
project, stole valuable time from the director and, at
other times, the director delved into the subject and the
process of collecting material so much that determining
the theme and the open structure of the documentary
became a problem.
Since the film tells about our relationship to technology and rapidly changing society, one is tempted to ask
if the subject has had any effect on the director’s life.
Lindén admits she has changed:
“I feel I grow with my films. Behind every film,
there is my personal need to examine the subject and
delve into the thematics of it. This subject is very acute
in my life, and I have been looking for my place and
way of existence in this world. I changed a lot during
the production; I’m more content now. Calmer. I’ve noticed that it’s easier to give up things.”
Directors can change the world with their films, but
films can also change the worlds of directors.
The Passenger
The Passenger
A story of a Jewish man
Pia Andell got the idea for her film The Passenger
(Matkustaja) after a chance encounter in Helsinki. In
2009 the director’s then 11-year-old daughter sat opposite an old man in a tram. The man had an interestinglooking tattoo on his hand, and the two started talking.
The man told her he was Jewish and originally from
Poland and that he had survived Auschwitz and before
that the Łód Ghetto in Poland. Andell’s daughter came
home and told about the incident.
The director wanted to shoot the film as soon as possible. The main character was a frail old man, and his
story needed to be captured. At the development stage
of the film, Andell was still working as production consultant at AVEK and thus couldn’t look for financing
Milla von Konow
Pia Andell
in the usual way. The director took a risk and invested
her own money in the project. For this reason, the production was as light as possible. The story of Mayer
Franck is told through four seasons, but in reality the
film was shot during four days.
Andell often uses a narrator to propel the dramaturgy of the film, and The Passenger is no exception.
This time the story is told in her daughter’s words, and
it brings historical events close to
today’s young people. This also
Historical events
accentuates the documentary naand people are
ture of the film. Even though the
mirrored through
events in Franck’s life are reconthe everyday life
structed by cinematic means, the
and emotions of
original story is told in the words
today’s people.
of the person who first met him.
Pia Andell is known for her
films that chart themes from near
history and art. The approach is, however, very fresh
and rooted in today’s world. Historical events and people are mirrored through the everyday life and emotions of today’s people. The director treats her subjects
with curiosity and in a subjective way, but the story is
also told through objective means, such as archive material. Andell’s previous films include Havahtuminen
(2011), Göring’s Baton (Göringin sauva, 2010), Playing Adults (Leikki, 2008) and Y in Vyborg (Hetket
jotka jäivät, 2005). The Passenger will be seen at IDFA’s
Kids&Docs where her previous films have also been
screened.
An experienced filmmaker, Andell has a positive
outlook on the future of documentary film:
“I have to trust that the situation at YLE will calm
down at some point, and that we’ll be able to make
films again. I’m optimistic about it. I have my production company and make films at a low risk. With that
also comes freedom to make what I like.”
The pilgrimage of a man who’s lost his soul
Aboriginal tribes used to believe that taking a photo
will rob people of their soul. PV Lehtinen’s Soul
Catcher is documentary about a man who’s lost his soul.
The film centers on a warrior descending from the Masai tribe. The people on a beach in Helsinki don’t know
that as they look into the lens of a monorail camera,
they look into the soul of a dead person. Two worlds
and levels of time meet in a visual and multidimensional
documentary. The film is a continuation for Lehtinen’s
Oasis (Keidas, 2007) and will be seen in ParaDocs, a
showcase for experimental documentaries at IDFA.
PV Lehtinen has directed several award-winning
short films, documentaries and experimental films,
as well as commercials. His short film The Diver
(Hyppääjä, 2000) was awarded an honorary mention
7
PV Lehtinen
at the 2001 IDFA. The film tells of an old diver who
hangs upside down from a diving tower, at a height of
ten meters, throughout the entire film film. His films
include, among others, Sirkka (2001), The Crawl (Krooli, 2004) and My Superhero (Supermään, 2010).
Like other directors, Lehtinen is also worried about
the endangered state of Finnish documentary financing.
He thinks short-sighted cultural policies have managed
to destroy film financing that has developed over many
years. As a director of several short films, Lehtinen is
also worried about the weak status and accessibility of
short films.
“Film as an art form is different from the other art
forms in an absurd way in that its duration seems to
Soul Catcher
8
determine its value and visibility. Short films are still a
true rarity in movie theaters. Short films are discussed
and written about all too rarely
by film critics in the Finnish
“Critique is
media. Critique is, however,
important as filmimportant, as filmmakers need
makers need to
to stay in touch with their
stay in touch with
existence and the viewers in the
their existence and long run.”
the viewers”
At the moment Lehtinen
is working on his first feature
film that he’s also written. He
found the inspiration for The Fountain of a Whale in
José María Sánchez-Silva’s novel. Through unique
marine themes, the film tells of the growth of a human
being. Lehtinen is currently looking for international
financing and a coproducer for the film.
“To me, making documentaries is always subjective
and personal. I don’t feel I’m a documentarian, but a
filmmaker to whom every film signifies a great expedition into something new. The finished film is the findings that I want to share with people. The best ideas
usually come from living life and through curiosity. You
have to keep your eyes and ears open – sometimes you
have open doors that you’re not supposed to open.”
The secret behind the success of Finnish films
What has year 2012 been like for Finnish documentary? Even though they are in great financial danger,
Finland has capital that is more valuable than euros.
Directors feel their films have audiences that understand them, are interested in their work and appreciate
their subjects and the way the subjects are made into
films. Pia Andell says of the current situation:
“Young viewers evaluate documentaries based on the
structure and the way they have been made, not solely
on the basis of the subject. They try to understand how
the film was constructed and what they can find in it.
They might even demand it. We have international documentary film festivals in Finland where our films are
also screened. Watching a documentary in a theater is
different from watching it on TV. It gives us a chance to
think. The experience is intensive and brings out nuances and sounds. The experience is more comprehensive.”
Together the audience and the filmmakers have created an inspiring atmosphere for doing and experimenting; it encourages people to generate ideas. This atmosphere wasn’t born by coincidence, but after years of
determination and work. Filmmakers value their profession and want to tell stories to audiences. Audiences
are interested in what the filmmakers want to tell them
about our world. They want to watch films in theaters
and at festivals, together with others.
Can documentarians make an impact? Yes, they can
if the audience wants to participate. We are all capable
of making a difference. Sonja Lindén summarizes a
filmmaker’s wish:
“If we are ready to be open and let a film, thought,
moment or an encounter affect us, change is possible.
At best, the film will stay alive in the viewer’s world
of experiences. Documentaries should be showcased
more!”
Mirkka Maikola
Finnish Films at IDFA 2011
Sonja Lindén:
Five Star Existence
IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
Mika Koskinen:
Red Forest Hotel
IDFA Competition for Green Screen Documentary
Pia Andell:
The Passenger
Kids&Docs
PV Lehtinen:
Soul Catcher
ParaDocs
Mika Kaurismäki:
Mama Africa
IDFA PLAY, Competition for Music Documentary
9
Soundbreaker
A dangerous accordion
There is a man, an accordion, a hole in the ice and the music that comes from the trinity. Kimmo Koskela’s
documentary Soundbreaker dives into a musician’s world, into cold and pure waters.
An artist’s fingers won’t freeze and his mind is clear. How do musicians experience finding their own voice?
What can be achieved when film and music meet?
“What is the character of the accordion?!”
K
immo Pohjonen looks at me sternly. His look
says he wants all accordion purists and people
who think there is an orthodox way of playing
the instrument or want a European Union directive on
accordion to take a hike.
“For me, it’s an acoustic instrument that I want to
make as electronic as possible. It’s a world of endless possibilities. At the moment it’s the purpose of my life, and
if someone comes and says it doesn’t fit the character of
the instrument, I’ll have to say I strongly disagree.”
Kimmo Pohjonen is an internationally acclaimed accordionist who is known for his electronically enhanced
instrument and his broad mastery of music technology.
He has a background in classical accordion, especially
in folk music, but over the years he has developed his
unique way of playing the instrument and stretched the
limits of both the instrument and music into surprising
10
and unexplored directions. Besides his solo projects,
Pohjonen has cooperated with artists and groups such
as Kronos Quartet, Proton String Quartet, Pat Mastelotto, Trey Gunn and multimedia artist Marita
Liulia. He has also done duo projects with people like
Samuli Kosminen and Eric Echampard and composed music for films and circus and dance performances.
In Pohjonen’s music, visuality is present onstage
as well as in the tones. It draws the listeners to throw
themselves into the music. The idea of making a film
about Pohjonen first came up eight years ago when his
manager, who works at his German record company,
proposed it to producer Gernot Steinweg, who then
represented the idea to director Kimmo Koskela.
Koskela discussed the idea with Pohjonen, but the
accordionist was hesitant at first. How can you make
ment and time and the relation between them fascinate
the director endlessly.
In the case of Soundbreaker, it might be misleading to talk about a film that is solely a documentary,
as the only thing the film shares with the genre is the
principle of truthfulness. Koskela doesn’t feel he is a
documentarian, and Pohjonen doesn’t feel he’s the subject of a documentary. The film is more like a work of
art created by two artists; the film tells about a man, his
lifestyle, creativity and music.
The many names for accordion
The accordion has many nicknames in Finnish, and
many of them are not very respectable. In Finnish, if
something goes wrong, people say it comes from the accordion, which is also a nickname for butt. A lot of the
nicknames for accordion are not very pretty. Pohjonen’s
attitude to his instrument is full of humor, but for years
he was close to quitting. The accordion has a sissy reputation, and many see the televised accordion competitions as an embodiment of a backwards Finnish rural
culture.
People have tried to push strict rules on how one
should use the bellows or what the instrument should
be like; the intention is to make people take the instrument seriously. Pohjonen criticizes the standardization
Milla von Konow
a documentary about a person who’s dangerous to his
environment when he’s in the creative phase and constantly on the move, both mentally and physically?
Pohjonen and Koskela finally connected when they
realized they both wanted to combine music and image
in a new way. The project started as a fictional film, but
eventually Pohjonen realized a script wasn’t the right
choice for him.
An uncompromising artist, Pohjonen didn’t want to
give a false impression of himself; he didn’t want Pohjonen, a fictitious musician, to be confused with the real
Kimmo Pohjonen.
“I’ve always hated documentaries that combine fact
and fiction in such a way that the audience doesn’t
know what’s true and what isn’t. This film is a visual
music documentary, and the most important thing is
that I can stand behind it. There is no fictitious drama
because I believe that there is enough drama in reality if
one portrays it the right way.”
Director Koskela knew early on what the basic idea
of the film was and where the focus would be. “I wanted to create images for Pohjonen’s music, as the music
itself was so complete. His sound world awakens strong
visions and mental images.”
Koskela’s background is in still photography, as well
as in experimental film and dance film. Music, move-
Kimmo Koskela
11
of the instrument harshly. When Sibelius Academy, a
Finnish music school that is among the biggest European music universities, established the Department of
Folk Music, Pohjonen started seeing himself as a student of world music instead of a classical accordionist.
Heikki Laitinen, one of the teachers, became an important person to Koskinen, as he emphasized finding
one’s own voice and courage through experimentation.
“I said, ‘fuck all the rules,’ and these days I don’t
think about the bellows at all. I use
them intuitively, and it works perfectly for me. It’s a good starting
“Making
point.”
a concert
It was at Sibelius Academy that
dramaturgy is
Pohjonen had the first enlightenin a way live
ment that pushed his career in a new
film editing.”
direction. Pohjonen made an experiment where he enhanced his music
electronically. The sounds that came out of the accordion were so divine and at the same time so devilish that
the musician himself got frightened.
In the documentary Pohjonen wants to tell us that
the basis in music education should be breaking rules
and testing one’s limits. One must grow from being the
player of an instrument into a musician.
Music images
Both Pohjonen and Koskinen define Soundbreaker as
a visual music documentary. The film stands out in its
genre; it’s very rare to see music and film combined so
seamlessly.
Pohjonen, who has made music for films, wonders
why filmmakers don’t want to have composers on board
from the beginning of the project. Music could help
them find a rhythm and atmosphere in a way that is not
possible when music is added to the finished film. In
Soundbreaker, the images and atmospheres are created
by Pohjonen’s music, and director Kimmo Koskela’s
background as a musician had an effect on the rhythm
of the film.
“I was surprised at how well Koskela had chosen music for the different scenes. He clearly has a good ear for
music and strong intuition. Later, when we were editing
the film, we tried to change the music and use something else, but in the end, I also thought the music and
the vision chosen by Koskela were the best alternatives.”
In a film the rhythm of the music and the rhythm of
the film might resemble one another. Pohjonen compares the dramaturgic editing of a film to the dramaturgy of a concert.
“The dramaturgy plays an important part in a live
concert. When I go onstage, there is only the beginning
12
and the end. I don’t like to force the audience to give applause too often in between. Making a concert dramaturgy – deciding when to come down from the top, whether
to use low and high energy or something in between and
what colors to use – is in a way live film editing.”
Snow music
One of the strong themes in Soundbreaker is creativity
and appreciating one’s own view – without forgetting
humor.
Pohjonen admits to being a very urban person living
in a city. His childhood spent in the countryside, however, continues to be a source of ideas for his work.
The Earth Machine Music, a performance that combines farming machine sounds with Pohjonen’s accordion music, is a good example. Performances were recorded in a village called Rämsöö, near Tampere, Finland,
and Sussex, England, among others. Pohjonen found
inspiration for the concept in the cozy chugging of combustion engines and the soundscape created by a variety
of farming machines, straw bales and pigs.
The outcome was a series of concerts in venues such
as stable yards and barns where solos were played by local potato sorting machine owners, among others.
Film director Koskela and musician Pohjonen share a
strong vision about their artistic work. They both say relying on their intuition is an important principle. “Some
people came to see a rough version of the film and said
that we couldn’t do this or that and that the audience
wasn’t going to like it. I don’t think about the audience
at that point. If I like something, the audience will too,”
Koskela says sharply.
For Kimmo Pohjonen, winter is a creative period
when he can delve deep into things. Snow and cold
weather are crucial for his work and life in Finland.
Winter has a strong presence in the atmosphere and
visual look of the documentary. The hole in the ice,
which is the theme in the beginning and at the end of
the film, wasn’t shot for visual reasons; it’s the accordionist’s everyday life. In the wintertime Pohjonen takes a
dip in the icy lake five times a week for inspiration and
clarity of the mind.
Heikki Laitinen points out that there is a true anarchist and a fierce, manic accordionist in Pohjonen. The
musician’s artistic desire is pure from all artificiality, and
he doesn’t want to please anyone.
Kimmo Pohjonen’s bold and curious attitude toward
life can be seen in his energetic presence and clear
mind. It brings to mind a crisp and sunny winter day
and a wild slide down a hill. Either with or without an
accordion.
Mirkka Maikola
The Punk Syndrome
The Punk Syndrome spreads joy
Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät, a punk band consisting of developmentally disabled musicians,
is phenomenal. Jukka Kärkkäinen and J-P Passi made a genuine documentary about the group.
P
entti Kurikan Nimipäivät, which can be
translated as “The Name Day Party of Pertti
Kurikka,” (name day being a tradition of
celebrating the day of the year associated with
one’s given name) has brought a fresh new breeze onto
the Finnish music scene. And not only in Finland, as
the band has already toured Germany.
Documentarians Jukka Kärkkäinen (born 1972)
and J-P Passi (born 1974) followed the band’s journey
to popularity and accompanied the band to Germany;
the outcome was a documentary entitled The Punk
Syndrome (Kovasikajuttu).
The band, named after guitarist-songwriter Pertti
Kurikka, consists of vocalist Kari Aalto, bassist
Sami Helle and drummer Toni Välitalo.
Bassist Helle has other creative works under his belt;
he co-wrote Gimme Some Respect (Vähän kunnioitusta),
a feature film that premiered in 2010. The film tells
of a mentally disabled girl and her relationship with a
nondisabled boy. Gimme Some Respect was named after a
song by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. The band, known
for their heavy guitars and powerful singing, are featured in the film. Directed by Pekka Karjalainen, the
film is a very unusual project in the sense that disabled
people had a large role in making the film.
The time of patting the
developmentally disabled on the head is over
It’s no wonder that the sharp and lively band soon
became the focus of a documentary.
Jukka Kärkkäinen explains: “I saw a news clip about
Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. They were great. I couldn’t
forget them, even though we already had our hands full
with other film projects. I did, however, contact them
and told I was interested in making a documentary
about the band if no one had already done it. It was love
at first sight.”
J-P Passi was immediately impressed. “Even the
13
Milla von Konow
Jukka Kärkkäinen and J-P Passi
shots we filmed on the first day we met are in the film.
I felt I had never shot anything like it, even though I’ve
worked as a cinematographer for fifteen years. I felt we
were dealing with something very important and witnessing something momentous.”
Kärkkäinen and Passi really didn’t have time because
they were already busy with a project for a featurelength documentary titled Once I Dreamt of Life (Näin
unta elämästä), which deals with the difficult subject
matter of suicide. They decided to switch the order of
the projects and make Once I Dreamt of Life after The
Punk Syndrome.
Kärkkäinen says, “My previous films were dark, but
I knew there was also a positive side in me. In a way, I
had an awakening when I saw the joy the boys in the
band were spreading. My dark films had somehow
made me drift too deep into their world.”
The Punk Syndrome
14
“Even though the other films are dark, there were
also fun moments during the shooting. There were moments when we had to bite our fists to keep a straight
face,” says Passi.
Despite the fact that the new film was full of happy,
wild energy, the long projects with dark subject matter
had taken their toll on Jukka Kärkkäinen. During the
filming of The Punk Syndrome, Kärkkäinen developed
a psychosis and was hospitalized for a month before he
recovered. It was fortunate that Passi, his trusted cinematographer, had also been given the credit of director
in the project. Passi shot, among others, Kärkkäinen’s
documentary The Living Room of the Nation (Kansakunnan olohuone, 2009) where people were filmed in their
living rooms.
Kärkkäinen says: “Nothing really changed in our
work method. Usually Passi shoots and I record the
sound, but we both discuss what we want from the image and the sound. And we create the atmosphere together with the person we’re shooting.”
“We shot The Punk Syndrome in a way that makes it
look like we were one of them. The viewers gets a close
view; they don’t have to crane their necks to see what is
going on. We shot the band on tour and in practice and
told each band member’s individual life story. From a
filmmaker’s point of view, the way the band members
uninhibitedly argued with each other, despite having us
The Smoking Room
and a camera right next to them, is something you rarely
get to witness. There was no safety screen between them
and us. There was enough trust for the band members to
be themselves,” Passi says.
When the band members saw the first trailer version
of the film, they did, however, agree that they would
stop fighting in front of the camera. The trailer included
an “impressive scene of them fighting.”
“It was good that they learned in the early stages of
the project that everything was going to be shot and
might end up in the film,” Passi says.
“They thought the most fascinating thing in the
trailer was the scene where Toni, the drummer, is peeing.
static shots of a group of very unique characters.
Toni thought it was cool because it’s really punk to pee
Kärkkäinen has a regular character in many of his
naked in the toilet – and because it was caught on film.
films: Tero Pihkakoski, who Kärkkäinen also calls
In any case, Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät is sure to
his alter ego. Tero is a big and burly country boy who
shake up old attitudes. Isn’t film the best possible mehas deep feelings running just
dium to educate people?
under the surface. One day
“This film had to do some shaking up. We would
after Kärkkäinen had shot Tero
have worked in vain if we had embellished things. It’s
“We shot the film
okay if some people get offended by the film. The time
in a way that makes finding out he’s going to beof patting the developmentally disabled on the head is
it look like we were come a dad, Kärkkäinen got a
phone call in the evening and
over,” Passi says.
one of them”
found out he was in the same
“Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät actually fits the punk
situation himself.
scene better than a whole lot of other bands. The mesKärkkäinen is often compared to Swedish filmmaker
sage they bellow out is definitely punk and straight to
Roy Andersson as well as Austria’s Ulrich Seidl.
the point,” says Kärkkäinen.
Kärkkäinen says: “Seidl has an interesting way of usIn the film 54-year-old Pertti Kurikka remains someing both actors and real people. The latter usually play
thing of a mystery.
themselves, which looks very natural. Our production
Passi says, “The other band members share their secompany, Mouka Filmi, also plans to make fictional
crets. If one of them has a secret, he’ll gripe about it to
films in the future. My favorite director is Takeshi
himself, and you only need to get a bit closer and you’ll
Kitano. I think his deadpan style is more Kaurishear what he’s saying. But there are so many things inmäkian than Kaurismäki himself. In one of his films,
side Pertti that you just want to watch him endlessly.”
the first line comes after twenty minutes. His humor
Kärkkäinen and Passi’s previous credits:
makes me explode with laughter.”
a living room film and a smoking room film
When it comes to the structure of the film, the filmmakers had Some Kind of Monster, the documentary
Jukka Kärkkäinen’s big success came with The Living
on Metallica, on their minds. Their next film, Once I
Room of the Nation (2009). The film won the Jussi
Dreamt of Life, the documentary on suicide, will have
Award, the Finnish equivalent of the Oscars, for Best
both interviews and animated sequences.
Documentary. His previous film, a documentary titled
Besides Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi has another inspirThe Smoking Room (Tupakkahuone, 2006), also featured
ing partner to work with: Juho Kuosmanen. Passi shot
Kuosmanen’s tragicomic fictional film titled The Painting
Sellers (Taulukauppiaat, 2010). The film won the top
Cannes Cinefondation Prize. It’s based on a script that
Passi wrote in the early 90s when he was still a student.
Passi says, “It’s impossible to say anything general
about the feedback we got for The Painting Sellers. Some
thought it was hysterically funny. Others cried. For
some it was insignificant.”
Jussi Karjalainen
The Living Room of the Nation
15
A paradise
for film maniacs
in Lapland
Cultural all-rounder Peter von Bagh’s
list of merits is impressive. During
the last couple of years, he has made
documentaries about the Midnight
Sun Film Festival in Lapland, the city
of Helsinki, the great film director
Mikko Niskanen – and the history of
Finnish culture.
16
F
ilm historian Peter von Bagh (born 1943)
is an extremely active person in Finnish culture. He has directed four significant documentaries in the past few years.
Helsinki, Forever (Helsinki, ikuisesti, 2008) was the
first. The four-part Sodankylä Forever (Sodankylä
ikuisesti, 2010–11) offers four hours of fascinating interviews from a festival that von Bagh and the Kaurismäki brothers founded in 1986 in Lapland. The threepart Niskanen (Mikko Niskanen – ohjaaja matkalla ihmiseksi, 2010) tells of Mikko Niskanen, the acclaimed
director. Lastuja – taiteilijasuvun vuosisata (2011) is
about writer Juhani Aho and his family, who worked
as film directors and artists and defined Finnishness in
the 1900s.
Von Bagh also has an extensive list of merits in other
fields, including non-fiction writing.
Milla von Konow
“The light in a true film image is not digital”
The three-part documentary Sodankylä Forever is apt
to attract viewers outside Finland – and perhaps in particular. So far, the documentary has been screened at
New York’s Lincoln Center, among others.
“I think in a way, Sodankylä Forever is a sacred film
for film enthusiasts, some kind of an original home,”
Peter von Bagh says.
“Film in its basic form is respected in Sodankylä, and
that fascinates many people, who are used to the commercial atmosphere of today’s festivals. In Sodankylä
they see a festival that is void of commercial elements
and focuses on the real thing.”
The spirit of genuine film mania has attracted a
countless number of big film names to Sodankylä. They
have been interviewed by Peter von Bagh at in-depth
panel discussions. These discussions, held in an exotic
location, the local school, take place in the morning, after nightless nights, and last two to three hours. People
who have visited Sodankylä include Samuel Fuller,
Michael Powell, Jacques Demy, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Claude Chabrol, Robert Wise, Stanley
Donen, Francis Ford Coppola, Abbas Kiarostami,
Milos Forman, as well more modern indie filmmakers
such as Jim Jarmusch.
D.A. Pennebaker once said, “Woodstock is fucking
nothing if you have been in Midnight Sun Film Festival.”
Von Bagh explains how he sorted the pearls of the
interviews into a three-part documentary: “In the first
part filmmakers talk about their childhood and youth.
Experiences of people from both West and East intertwine. Little by little, you start to understand the gruesome things they have had to deal with – even when
making comedy. I think the most original stories in this
Peter von Bagh
part might be the interviews with Eastern European
filmmakers.”
“The second part is based on a question that all discussions are opened with: what was the first film you
saw? Then we find out how the filmmakers entered
the industry. The spirit in this part is respect for the
purity of the first time.”
“The third part talks about the art of directing and
film as an art form of time and changing places. Directors talk about other directors. In Sodankylä we’ve
had the privilege of hearing people telling about the
production of films that were made a surprisingly
long time ago. Robert Wise told us about the making
of Citizen Kane. Dréville told how he witnessed the
filming of The Passion of Joan of Arc in 1928.”
“The fourth part centers around
the northern light in Sodankylä
and on the other hand, the light
“Film in its
in the cinema, which isn’t digital
basic form
smudge, but real film images.
is respected
We’ve linked this with the light
in Sodankylä”
coming from acting, movie stars
and human faces.”
Von Bagh tells how other film festivals have expressed their envy of Sodankylä and wondered why
they haven’t done the same.
“Many of the discussions in Sodankylä have been
very emotional, for example the one with Michael
Powell. There is magic in them; it makes me wonder
why I’ve been so fortunate that I have had the chance
to hang around for such a long time,” von Bagh says in
his self-ironic way.
Variety wrote about the Sodankylä Forever films:
“It’s quite likely that there will never be another film
that encapsulates the living testimony of such a wide
range of filmmakers.”
Popular schlager songs
as the hidden memory of the nation
In Helsinki, Forever, his compilation film, von Bagh
only used existing material, from both documentaries
and fiction films:
“A lot of inspired material on Helsinki has been shot
over the course of some hundred years. You can sense
the aroma of each time period in the excerpts. I had no
desire whatsoever to add my images to it.”
Chris Marker wrote to the director, “Helsinki,
ikuisesti deserves its rank among the great ‘city-poems’,
and I’d rate it above Ruttmann, for instance.”
Von Bagh started making documentaries by meeting the legendary tango singer Olavi Virta, who experienced the downside of success in a shocking way.
17
When the two met, Virta had wound up being sick and
living in a subleased room.
“Some still think Olavi Virta is my best documentary,
as it is the gruffest of them all. The idea behind the film
was that popular schlager songs are the soundtrack of
the times. It was an original thought then. There is a
much-quoted phrase in the film: “Schlager songs are the
hidden memory of the nation.”
From 1980 to 1990 the director made several interview documentaries and captured, among others, the
personality of singer Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki in
all its vulnerability. Somerjoki’s music is strangely wistful; Aki Kaurismäki has introduced his music to the
world by using it in his films. Kaurismäki’s films have
also saluted Olavi Virta, the subject of von Bagh’s first
documentary.
“The turning point that has brought me to where I
am today is a TV series called Sininen laulu – Suomen
taiteiden tarina (2004, a twelve-part documentary
about Finnish culture). It was so hard to make, to make
the absurdly extensive material work, that anything
after that hasn’t been difficult. In it different art forms
are presented as parallel streams moving alongside each
other.”
What was new in the twelve-part documentary was
using a voice-over after refraining from commentaries during the some twenty years he’d made interview
documentaries. The documentary was made into a nonfiction bestseller book in Finland.
Von Bagh continued to use voice-over in the threepart documentary about director Mikko Niskanen
(Ohjaaja matkalla ihmiseksi).
“Abroad I’ve often been in screenings where Niskanen’s film Eight Deadly Shots (Kahdeksan surmanluotia,
1972) has been introduced as the best Finnish film ever
made. So far no foreigner has understood what’s so good
about it. The two-and-a-half-hour theatrical version
of the TV series is a crime against the deadly shots. It’s
not even a viewer’s digest; it’s a flop. Niskanen used his
strong artistic intuition when he made the original TV
version, which lasts 5 hours and 16 minutes. A restored
version of it would be something incredible, and we
could also show the making-of.”
Way out from a state of chaos
“It will be very interesting to see how my latest documentary, Lastuja – taiteilijasuvun vuosisata will be
received by foreigners, as it is so terribly Finnish. In a
way, I feel it’s an inside thing, but those are often more
popular outside than in Finland. Calamari Union (by
Aki Kaurismäki) is more
popular abroad, even though
it was thought to be a very
“Some think the
Finnish Broadcasting national film. No one knows
who Juhani Aho or the other
Company YLE should
artists in the film are, but
be dragged down
there is something universal
into the mud and
in the story.”
on the same level
What will von Bagh direct
as the commercial
next?
broadcasters”
“I’m not sure I will do anything. Documentary film is
in a very tight spot in Finland these days.”
He talks about the difficult situation of the formerly
successful tripartite financing model in which YLE has
been a very important piece. The financing of YLE itself is being reformed, and no decisions on how it will
be done have been made as yet. It means that at least
for some time, YLE will participate in the financing of
documentaries with a dramatically decreased share. Peter von Bagh, who is known as a sharp-tongued debater
in Finland, continues:
“YLE has let itself enter a state of chaos. There
are large groups of people who think YLE should be
dragged down into mud and on the same level as the
commercial broadcasters; they think it shouldn’t rise
above them mentally. It’s a terrible thought. I’m part of
the generation that has enjoyed the varied content YLE
has given to us.”
“Finnish documentary is not very polemic. Its greatness comes from offering objective statements about
private lives and public issues. Yet the idea of documentary is apparently so frightening that some influential
groups would like it to drift into a harmless or dried-up
state. They would like to kick out half of the people.
Petteri Evilampi, my extremely skilled editor,
moved to Thailand. He packed his bags and left his
profession.”
Von Bagh thinks politicians should sit down at the
table and only get up once they have agreed on how
YLE will be financed.
Jussi Karjalainen
Century of the Cinema
18
Canned Dreams
The long journey of
a can of ravioli
Katja Gauriloff’s Canned Dreams gives a voice to people in factories
When you grab a can of food at the supermarket, do you ever think how many pairs of hands all
around the world have worked in the process of making it? The global food industry is faceless
and operates according to laws of economic efficiency. Katja Gauriloff’s Canned Dreams
(Purkitettuja unelmia) wants to put people working in factories and on production lines in the
spotlight and let them tell about their dreams and lives in their own words.
A
cquiring food has probably never been easier
than it is today. All we need to do is walk
to the nearest store, buy a ready-made meal
in a can, bag or carton, frozen or preserved,
and heat and eat it. Even in France, the cradle of Western culinary art, shopping carts are more and more often
filled with ready meals. Consumers are losing touch with
the roots of their food. At the same time, people are,
however, more and more interested in the origins of the
food they eat and want to see the complex production
chains behind these seemingly simple meals exposed.
Katja Gauriloff’s Canned Dreams dissects this global production chain and takes us to the various origins
of a can of ravioli, all the way from a metal quarry in
Brazil to a Portuguese tomato plantation and a Romanian slaughterhouse. Gauriloff says she got the idea for
the film at a lunch break a long time ago. A screenwriter, who Gauriloff shared an office with, bought a
can of ravioli for lunch and wondered aloud where all
the ingredients for the cheap can had come from.
Detective work and love at first sight
The background research wasn’t easy: the international
chain store selling the ravioli didn’t want to give any information and neither did the factory that produces the
ravioli. “Eventually they even pulled the product out of
19
Milla von Konow
Katja Gauriloff
the Finnish market,” Gauriloff tells us about the consequences of the research. Her intention was not to make
an openly aggressive and sensational film – the core of
the film is about the people in factories and on production lines, at work, and their stories. “I wanted to be
open, not to attack,” says Gauriloff of her documentary
principles.
The journey of making the film, from the ravioli
lunch to the finished film, took four years. Canned
Dreams was produced by Oktober; Gauriloff is one of
the founding members of the production company. Financiers and international contacts were found at Twelve
for the Future, which is a coproduction workshop for
young Nordic documentary producers and directors,
and at Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland, and Hot
Docs in Toronto, Canada. Eurodoc 2008 was an important financing forum for the film; producer Joonas
Berghäll represented the project there. Meanwhile,
with the precision of a detective, a French journalist managed to find out the origins of the ingredients
needed for a can of ravioli. As for Gauriloff, she discovered that even though the pork in the ravioli is originally from Denmark, the pigs are butchered in Romania –
and grown in Germany. Gauriloff also wanted to shoot
in a mega piggery in Germany. “It was impossible,” says
the director when asked about the industry’s attitudes
towards filming. Eventually she was granted filming
20
permission for a small family-owned piggery, but she
refused, as it wouldn’t have portrayed the reality of the
faceless production chain depicted in the film.
When it comes to the main thing in Canned Dreams,
the people hidden in the darkness of production lines,
Gauriloff praises the local producers in each location
and their input and indispensable help in finding interviewees. “Normally you build trust with the characters
for a long time – especially when shooting a documentary where you follow the characters over a course of
several years – but in this project we had to build it very
quickly,” says Gauriloff as she tells us about working
with her interviewees. “Encounters with these people
were love at first sight. We all had a story to tell; you
can sense it in people.” There are many links in the production chain of a can of ravioli and they involve many
touching stories; a young Romany mother working at a
Romanian slaughterhouse worries about different things
than his jealous and vindictive butcher counterpart in
Poland. The interviewees don’t talk as much about how
hard their work is as they do about their personal lives.
They’re not defined only by their work.
How an idealist became a film director
It’s not only a can of ravioli that requires a long, global
production chain; the film itself did as well, as the film
was shot in as many locations as where the ingredients
were from. Katja Gauriloff sees international cooperation, and even globalization, as a clear advantage to
making documentaries. “We have always explored new
places.” She tells us that documentarians are openminded people but adds that international coproductions can be complicated and require a lot of work. “Also, for that reason, it’s important that there is domestic
production; filmmakers have to have the opportunity
to make films within their borders – both geographical
and linguistic.”
Katja Gauriloff ’s journey from her birthplace, Lapland, to Brazil is a long one. The director tested her
wings and searched for herself in many places – also on
production lines – before making the decision to, “pack
my bags and apply for any media school I could find.”
She was accepted to study media at Tampere University
of Applied Sciences where a course on documentary
film sparked her interest in making documentaries.
“The documentary is a good medium if you want to say
something or make a difference,” she says. The subject
in her first documentaries was her identity as a Sami, a
member of the indigenous people of Lapland. Gauriloff
says that her first experiments in documentary have given her depth, but also “small-scale idealism.”
Gauriloff says the documentary is not, per se, a better genre
for political films than fiction but “Finding
it’s the genre she feels most comgood equipment
fortable with. For her, the most
has become
important thing is that the film,
difficult”
both the content and the image, is
cinematic. “Reportages are not for
me; I’m not the journalist type,” says the director, who
also makes the storyboards for her films. “It’s wonderful
when you have a skilled cinematographer on the crew
with whom you’re on the same wavelength and who understands quickly what you want from images.”
The director, who has high standards for the visual
language in her films, uses 16mm film. During the
filming of Canned Dreams, Gauriloff witnessed the
changes that filmmaking is undergoing: “Shooting on
film has become difficult. Towards the end of the production it was difficult to find film laboratories in each
country. Finding good equipment has become difficult
even in Poland, which I’ve always regarded as a country
where film is held in great esteem. It’s especially difficult to find 16mm film there.”
Personal is political
Canned Dreams is a film that has a strong social, or even
political, message. It doesn’t, however, shout slogans;
instead, it pricks its ears and listens to the workers who
don’t get their voices heard often. The responsibility of a
documentarian can be heavy when working with people
like these. Even if there isn’t a lot of time, the director
may build substantial trust with the characters – which
also happened in this production. “I can never show this
film in Romania because I’m afraid what kind of consequences there would be for one of the interviewees,”
Gauriloff says of her responsibility as a director. The
other side of the heavy responsibility is an ethical calling. Gauriloff says that working as a documentary filmmaker is a privilege. “I couldn’t imagine doing something I would think is trivial. I want the content to be so
heavy that I have to struggle with it,” says the director.
Canned Dreams
The film reveals the anonymous misery of a complicated production process in the food industry. Some
parts of the film might make viewers think that humans are merely production animals that are exploited
as much as possible for the lowest cost possible. Gauriloff, however, reminds us that the intention is to put
the individuals and their stories in the spotlight instead
of showing them as faceless masses. This had an empowering effect on the interviewees: “There were people who’d never been asked about anything before. Life
in the factory is hard. Even though we’re all just small
cogs in a large wheel, we all have our stories and dreams
to tell; they keep us alive.” Of her background before
becoming a film director she says, “I’ve also worked
on a production line, so I know what it’s like. The only
thing you can do is think your thoughts.”
What about the director’s dreams? “Most of my
dreams have to do with work or my career; for example,
finishing this film was a big dream,” Katja Gauriloff
says. “My next dream is more personal; I want to start
a family. Starting a family isn’t, however, something we
can take for granted in this world. In fact, the dreams of
all my interviewees had to do with family in one way or
another – the importance of family is a truly universal
phenomenon.”
Tytti Rantanen
21
Milla von Konow
Elina KIvihalme
Film commissioner Elina Kivihalme
a driving force behind the international success of Finnish documentary films
E
lina Kivihalme became film commissioner for
documentaries in December 2010. With an extensive career as a documentary and TV drama
director, she has, however, worked at the Finnish Film
Foundation previously; in 2007 she filled in for the then
documentary film commissioner Miia Haavisto.
In the process of making a documentary film, a
film commissioner can work either as a consultant or
a midwife. Kivihalme likes both roles. If a production
drifts into a crisis or even becomes a disaster, the film
commissioner should be instrumental in solving the
problems. Kivihalme tries to find something positive in
every production: “At best, I have inspiring dialogues
with the filmmakers, which results in the best possible
outcome.”
It is natural for a commissioner to participate actively
in the production process, as the documentary film
industry is so small, both in and outside Finland. The
same people encounter each other frequently, as well
as at festivals and other film-related events. Kivihalme
doesn’t see the smallness as a problem: “On the other
22
hand, it’s good that thirty-somethings are entering and
bringing new, fresh ideas into the industry.”
New, fresh ideas are indeed needed, since the financing schemes and the whole industry have changed.
“We used to have a very good financial situation, but
fortunately during the last couple of years, even more
resources have been allotted for documentary films.
We hope to see the same development in the European
Union so that European film will not be suffocated,”
Kivihalme says. Although technical advances might
make filmmaking easier, we see more challenges in distribution. Financing films might become an obstacle for
more people. There might be more forums, but at the
same time the profits will be smaller.
The situation for today’s directors is controversial.
“I know a lot of twenty- and thirty-somethings who
have to make commercials to make a living. Their
hands are tied, thanks to economic powers: people
have only so much energy to work – and on the other
hand, making documentaries demands plenty of time,
and people find it difficult to commit to projects in an
uncertain financial situation. One can’t make a living
making documentary films,” Kivihalme says.
Nevertheless, Kivihalme is confident that documentary films will be going strong in the future. Finnish
documentaries have reached their pinnacle over the last
three decades. Kivihalme is proud of how well-known
Finnish documentaries are outside Finland and mentions Markku Lehmuskallio’s, Pirjo Honkasalo’s
and Arto Halonen’s international success as examples.
She also praises young upcoming talents. There are a
number of elements that are necessary in making a successful documentary. “I’m not worried about finding
people with intelligence, heart and will – all these are
needed,” Kivihalme says.
However, there is something Kivihalme would like
Finns to learn from other countries and that is courage.
Even though the financing situation has been good thus
far, now is the time to look for new ways of financing
with an open mind, as we can’t take the old practices for
granted. “There are people all over the world who want
to fund documentaries,” Kivihalme encourages filmmakers. “TV is not the only medium; new platforms
and forums are becoming increasingly important.”
According to Kivihalme, coming from a small language
area is no longer an obstacle; we just have to work hard
on visual quality and narration and find subjects that
are globally interesting. “The Dutch language area is as
small as the Finnish, yet documentaries occupy a strong
position there as well,” Kivihalme reminds us.
Elina Kivihalme can’t see any distinct common denominator in the latest Finnish documentaries, at least
not subject-wise. One can, however, see a trend of Finnish filmmakers becoming more international – they are
making contacts as far as in Asia and the Middle East.
Kivihalme praises filmmakers for adopting a new, extroverted attitude: “Finnish documentaries are being made
on all continents. Filmmakers no longer stay at home
with their blinders on; instead, they go elsewhere to look
for universal stories and conquer the world.”
Elina Kivihalme’s 3+1 most impressive
documentary films from the recent years
The Interrupters
(by Steve James & Alex Kotlowitz, 2011)
“The Interrupters is the most recent of these films;
I saw it at Sheffield Doc/Fest. The film follows a
group of people over the course of a year as they
dedicate themselves to help others.”
Aranda
(by Anu Kuivalainen, 2011)
“Aranda is very different from The Interrupters;
it’s essayistic and reflective. The director’s view on
something that others may find trivial touches the
viewer.”
Into Eternity
(by Michael Madsen, 2010)
“I was introduced to this project in 2007 at Twelve
for the Future, a coproduction workshop for young
Nordic documentary producers and directors.
A Danish director heard on the radio that Finland
was digging a tunnel in bedrock for a nuclear waste
repository. Into Eternity weaves together thematics
of time in a fascinating and fresh way. The film is
a good example of how we should take into account
how others see us. Since the film is a Nordic coproduction, Finnish film professionals were
involved in making the film.”
Steam of Life
(by Joonas Berghäll & Mika Hotakainen, 2010)
“I have to mention this, especially as the film has
been seen by so many people all over the world. I’m
very proud to say that I was the first financier to
step on board the project when I worked as a commissioner at the Finnish Film Foundation in 2007.”
Tytti Rantanen
Aranda
Steam of Life
23
The documentary
– dictated by its subject or the genre?
W
hat kind of documentary is the right
kind? And for whom? The debate
about cinematic documentaries and
the more reportage-like ones has been
going on ever since I’ve been active in the industry.
On Finnish TV, documentaries coproduced with the
Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE have competed
with documentaries produced internally at the company
for the attention of the viewers, who also pay an annual
fee for watching TV. One can only wonder how many
viewers care if the style of the program in the documentary slot is “orthodoxly” cinematic? All kinds of
programs have been presented to them as documentaries: reportage-like investigative journalism, interviews,
narrated cavalcades of archive material, subjective takes
on the documentarian’s family secrets, or documentaries
that observe life according to the traditions of Direct
Cinema.
Finnish documentary is different from other members of the Nordic family. The narration is slow, the
cinematography and the sound are unembellished and
intensive and there is quiet roughness to it. For the
viewers in a Nordisk Panorama screening, the style,
which owes to Russian fiction and documentary classics, might come across as more eastern, or even Slavic.
We like to look at people and film them the way they
are. That is, in itself, an aesthetic value. But the image
of Finnish documentary is more pluralistic than that.
Fortunately.
Finns have coproduced documentaries with other
Nordic countries and distributed them all over the
world, and those films have no slowness whatsoever.
Dramaturgically they are playful and challenge both reportages and the latest trends in fiction and aren’t afraid
of being entertaining. Is this wild and crazy attitude
a proof of “Finnishness”? YLE documentarians have
made a number of reportages of crisis points throughout
the world, and these ambitious, bold and visually astonishing films have been screened at various international
film and TV festivals. So is the debate about the differences between cinematic and reportage-like TV documentaries becoming more and more a topic for a small
circle of people?
The cinematic style of documentary – by that, don’t
we mean that the filmmaker has a personal point of
view on a subject and style and form become more important than the subject itself with the film resembling
a work of art? So, which is more important, the style or
the subject, if we look for success?
At IDFA’s forum, the focus will be on the subject
when we discuss film projects about world pain, misery,
violence, war, climate issues and secrets and taboos of
families and nations. After a very visual pitch full of
emotion, we might see a discussion take place regarding whether or not viewers on a particular channel
would find the subject interesting. Would there even
be a slot for it, and would the product fit the brand of
the channel? Onstage, we’ll see filmmakers who’ve put
their heart and soul into their work; they’re listening to
the financiers engage in a witty, yet perverted, debate
as to whether a certain genocide or the discrimination
against a certain minority will fascinate the viewers.
At the Round Table Pitch, people are, first and foremost, looking for a fresh point of view on an old subject
or a subject that has never before been seen. Both subject and form are important. They’ll look for a documentary where the filmmaker’s point of view will guarantee that the film will be cinematic, but the film also
has to fit the channel’s profile.
How important is the subject in the feature-length
documentaries that have been screened at festivals in
recent years? Dissecting a subject in an insightful way
Markku Heikkinen
24
requires skill and extensive research. Polemic works,
made by people such as Michael Moore, where the
narrator has an important role, have aroused lively discussion. But how many films have had secrets that have
engrossed you? I suppose that’s the difference between
film art and something else.
In an ideal world, subject and form can engage in an
interesting dialogue. Why couldn’t a subject embracing
today’s current and eternal sore spots find a condensed,
cinematic and consistent form in a short film through
development? A concise short film might awaken filmmakers’ thirst for information and become, for example,
a journalistically ambitious ten-episode reportage or TV
series that will find hundreds of millions of viewers.
Also in Finland, we need to be more open and trusting and create more resources that will bring filmmakers and financiers together to discuss projects in
the early stages – that is, long before participating in
international financing forums. This way we’ll be able
to nurture saplings that might turn into a short or a fea-
ture film, a complete TV series, a controversial reportage or all of these. Professional filmmakers should be
aware of trends in the international TV market where
the focus is on subject. Financiers would benefit from
hearing filmmakers’ fresh ideas. A national pitching
week for subjects that are in the first stages of development would enrich the undergrowth of the industry –
both the independent sector and the filmmakers at the
Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE would benefit.
Colleagues taking risks and searching for new things
will create opportunities for others to succeed. We need
less struggle and keeping our ideas to ourselves.
And more joy that comes from encounters with others. Good things sometimes happen without us even
noticing when we’ve created the opportunities for them.
Markku Heikkinen
The writer is a freelance filmmaker.
His previous films are All Boys (Poikien bisnes, 2009) and
Old Man and the Lady (Ukko ja Akka, 2010)
Film festivals in Finland 2012
DocPoint –
Espoo Ciné International Film Festival
Helsinki Documentary Film Festival
17.–26.8.2012
24.–29.1.2012
PO Box 95, FI-02101 Espoo
Fredrikinkatu 23, FI-00120 Helsinki
Tel. +358 9 466 599, Fax +358 9 466 458
Tel. +358 9 672 472, Fax +358 9 673 998
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.espoocine.fi
www.docpoint.info
Helsinki Film Festival – Love & Anarchy
Tampere International Short Film Festival
20.–30.9.2012
7.–12.3.2012
PO Box 889
PO Box 305
Mannerheimintie 21–24, FI-00101 Helsinki
Tullikamarin aukio 2, FI-33101 Tampere
Tel. +358 9 6843 5230, Fax +358 9 6843 5232
Tel. +358 3 223 5681, Fax +358 3 223 0121
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.hiff.fi
www.tamperefilmfestival.fi
Oulu International Children’s Film Festival
Sodankylän elokuvajuhlat –
19.–25.11. 2012
Midnight Sun Film Festival
Hallituskatu 7, FI-90100 Oulu
13.–17.6.2012
Tel. +358 8 881 1293, Fax +358 8 881 1290
Kansanopistontie 5, FI-99600 Sodankylä
[email protected]
Tel. +358 16 614 526, Fax +358 16 614 522
www.oulunelokuvakeskus.fi/lef
[email protected]
www.msfilmfestival.fi
25
Fall/Winter 2011–2012
Mervi Junkkonen
After Life – 4 Stories of Torture
Mervi Junkkonen (b. 1975) is
Jälki elämässä – 4 tarinaa kidutuksesta
Kebi, Serge, Musa, and Hector come from different
parts of the world, but share one thing in common: each
has been tortured in his home country. Contrary to
their expectations, they survived, and they now all live
in Finland. Life goes on – but with limitations.
Their experiences have had a severe impact on their
lives, affecting them psychologically, damaging their
self-esteem, and denying them peaceful sleep. The rise
of an anti-immigration atmosphere in Finland hasn’t
helped their situation either.
The four men’s stories are interlaced into a common
experience of what it is like to try to carry on in the aftermath of torture.
a documentary film director, who also works as an
editor. She graduated from
the Department of Film and
Television at the University
of Art and Design in Helsinki
in 2005. In the same year she
Mervi Junkkonen
Risto Jarva Award at the Tampere International Film Festival
for her documentary About a Farm. Mervi spent her formative years in Oulunsalo, northern Finland, and she currently
resides in Sweden. She also received an award at the International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) for Barbeiros in 2002.
2011 | HDCAM, DigiBeta | 16:9 | Stereo | 58’
Director, Script: Mervi Junkkonen Cinematography: Vesa
Taipaleenmäki Editing: Annukka Lilja, Mervi Junkkonen Sound
Design: Esa Nissi Music: Girilal Baars Producer: Mika Ronkainen Production Company: Klaffi Productions Production Support: The Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Finland Financing TV Company: YLE Co-productions
26
was awarded the esteemed
Burden of My Heart
Sydämeni taakka
In the middle of the night in Kigali, Rwanda, a man
sits down in an empty cafe to tell you what it feels like
to be left alive. Men wash the bones of their loved
ones, a woman prays for shelter for her children and,
as people gather to remember, the memories resurface.
Everyone has found their way to make it through the
day. The Rwandan genocide took place in 1994. This
films show the scars of people who became survivors
16 years ago.
Iris Olsson
Iris Olsson (b. 1981) holds a MA in Documentary film directing. She has worked as a freelancer on Finnish television and
film productions. Olsson has directed four documentary
films. Summerchild was well received and was shown in
more than 20 international film festivals. Between Dreams
was nominated for the EFA’s Best European short film in 2010
and has toured over 80 festivals. Currently, Olsson is directing
a documentary television series and is preparing for her first
feature-length documentary taking place in Finland.
2011 | Beta SP, DigiBeta, BluRay | 16:9 | Dolby SR,
Dolby Digital 5.1 | 45’
Yves Niyongabo
Director, Script: Iris Olsson, Yves Niyongabo
Yves Montand Niyongabo was born in exile in Burundi in
Cinematography: Iris Olsson Editing: Oskari Korenius, Iris
1988. After the genocide in 1995 he returned with his family
Olsson Sound Design: Toni Teivaala, Kimmo Vänttinen Mu-
to his home country Rwanda. His first short film, Maibobo
sic: Toni Teivaala Producer: Iris Olsson, Claes Olsson Produc-
was screened at various international films festivals and
tion Company: Oy Nordic Film Pool Ltd Production Support:
has won awards. He directs and produces films with a film
The Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK Financing TV Company:
company in Rwanda. At the moment he is finishing a film,
YLE TV2 International Sales: Oy Nordic Film Pool Ltd
The Trip, for a Rotterdam international Film Festival project.
Burden of My Heart
Yves Niyongabo and Iris Olsson
Burden of My Heart
27
Canned Dreams
Purkitettuja unelmia
Katja Gauriloff
Milla von Konow
Canned Dreams
Katja Gauriloff (b. 1972)
was born in Inari, and is
Canned Dreams is a film about cannery workers and
of Sami background. At
their dreams, mediated through the journey of a canned
food product. In our film, we paint a portrait of ordinary workers from multiple cultures through their own
personal stories. We hear them sharing the most important moments in their life, and the dreams that would
make their world a better place. All this happens within
the frame of following the route of a tin can which
starts its journey from the other side of the world and
travels across Europe. In this film the beauty of humanity is seen through working hands.
the moment she lives
and works in Helsinki
and is one of the founders of a production company Oktober Oy. She is
interested in subjects
that deal with human
rights with a strong social approach.
Katja Gauriloff
2011 | 35mm, HDCAM, DigiBeta | 1:1,85 | Dolby Digital |
52’ and 80’
Director: Katja Gauriloff Script: Katja Gauriloff, Joonas
Berghäll and Jarkko T. Laine Cinematography: Heikki Färm,
Dance of Outlaws is a film about modern-day outcasts –
Tuomo Hutri Editing: Timo Peltola Sound Design: Peter
outlaws denied by society the chance of a respectable living; Moroccan girls from poor families with little education; rape victims, child brides, daughters of prostitutes.
Hind, 23, is a daughter of a drug-dealer and became a
dancer and prostitute after being raped and consequently
kicked out of her home at 14. Officially Hind doesn’t
exist; she cannot even apply for identification papers.
Albrechtsen Music: Karsten Fundal Producer: Joonas Berghäll
Production Company: Oktober Oy Production Support:
The Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK, MEDIA programme,
Nordisk Film & TV Fund Financing TV Companies: YLE TV2
Documentaries, ARTE, RTP, NRK International Sales: Deckert
Distribution GmbH / Heino Deckert
28
Dance of Outlaws
Dance of Outlaws
Yet she dreams of a better future; she gets engaged, but
soon afterwards her fiancé is arrested and sentenced to
twenty years in prison. Hind discovers she is pregnant
with her third child, and when her daughter is born, she
begins a fight to keep her.
Hind will be our guide into the reality of women
with no identity and no virginity in a society deeply
rooted in patriarchal traditions. At the heart of the film
is our guide Hind, we learn of her personal battle that
anyone can relate to, of not losing one’s dreams and
aspirations even in the darkest moments.
2012 | BluRay, DigiBeta, 2K | 16:9 | Stereo | 75’ and 58’
Director, Script: Mohamed El Aboudi Cinematography:
Marita Hällfors Editing: Erik Andersson Producer: Pertti
Veijalainen & Venla Hellstedt
Production Company: Illume Oy
Co-Producers: Piraya Film AS (Norway), Road Movies Oy (Finland)
Production Support: Finnish Film
Foundation, AVEK, The Church
Media Foundation, Foreign Office
Finland, MEDIA development funding, Institusjonen Fritt Ord, Nor-
Mohamed El Aboudi
El Aboudi was born and brought up in Morocco. He graduated from the University of Fes, Morocco with a BA in Theatre,
in 1991 and with a MA in Film & Television at Bond University,
Australia in 1997. He was Film Director for CINETEL, Paris,
France, 1991–1992. Selected Filmography: Fight of Fate 2010,
City Folk Helsinki 2007, Inside/Offside 2006, Two Mothers
2005, Ramadan 2004, My Father, the Freemason 2003.
Five Star Existence
Director Sonja Lindén sets out on a subjective journey
in order to understand the challenges of the new ways of
relating to and communicating with others. She explores
a society which is on the verge of becoming wireless – a
society in which changes the laws of time, space and distance are revolutionizing the concept of liaison. Her point
of departure is today’s society, but she also looks at what
the future may have in store for us. During her quest,
Lindén observes people’s experiences of freedom and
presence, and questions how our post-information society
and technological progress is changing our way of life.
2011 | HD Master, DigiBeta | cinemascope | 5.1, stereo |
way, Filmkraft Rogaland, Norway
58’ and 90’
Financing TV Companies: YLE TV2
Mohamed El Aboudi
29
Five Star Existence
Frozen Hell – Prisoners of War in Finland 1941
Director, Script, Producer: Sonja Lindén Cinematography: Pe-
Frozen Hell –
Prisoners of War in Finland 1941
ter Flinckenberg Editing: Samu Heikkilä Sound Design: Janne
Laine, Samu Heikkilä Music: Rebekka Karijord Production
Company: Avanton Productions Oy Co-production Company:
Mantary Film, Sweden / Stina Gardell Production Support:
The Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK, KONE Foundation, MEDIA
Programme of the European Union, Nordisk Film & TV Fond
Financing TV Companies: YLE co-productions, SVT Kultur
Sonja Lindén
Sonja Lindén is an independent filmmaker, producer and director, who established Avanton Productions in 2006. As a
director, she focuses on the experience of inner freedom and
its reflections on our external reality. The dimensions of love
and loneliness are also important themes in her films No
Man is an Island (2006), Gacaca- Awaiting Justice (2003),
Jäämarssi – Suomen matkaopas 1941–1942
During the Continuation War, the second of two wars
fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during
World War II, there were tens of prisoner of war camps
and thousands of labor sites. The prisoners of war were
part of ideological and economic warfare.
Frozen Hell – Prisoners of War in Finland 1941 tells
how the camps were designed and how they operated.
The main characters are people who were in leading
positions in the Finnish army, politics and industry
during the war. They were fulfilling a dream of the
right-wing party that wanted to stop the revolution-
Milla von Konow
Breathing (2002), Steps
on the Yoga Path (2000).
Sonja graduated from both
the Department of Motion
Picture, Television and Production Design (University
of Arts and Design Helsinki)
and the Helsinki School of
Economics.
Sonja Lindén
30
Ville Suhonen
Helping Mihaela
ary party from taking power. Triumphant at first, the
camps and labor sites later started sliding toward economic catastrophe.
2011 | BluRay, DigiBeta | 16:9 | Stereo | 85’
Director, script: Ville Suhonen Cinematography: Pekka Uotila
Editing: Tuuli Kuittinen Producer: Pertti Veijalainen Production company: Illume Ltd Production support: The Finnish
Film Foundation Financing TV company: YLE
Ville Suhonen
Ville Suhonen (born 1964) is a film director, screenwriter
and author. He became known for writing the script and codirecting Tommy and the Wildcat (Poika ja ilves), a family
adventure film and a big box office hit from 1999. Since 1988
Suhonen has directed and written over 30 films. He has pub-
For almost two years director Hanna Maylett has
followed the situation of Roma beggars from Eastern
European countries now in Finland. She got the idea
for the film when she heard about Mihaela, an underage girl who gave birth in Finland and was deported
immediately after with her baby boy, and about Stella
and Pekka, a Finnish couple determined to get Mihaela
off the streets and into a school. While following
the life of Mihaela and many other Romas, director
Maylett was forced to question her idea of helping others: helping people who live in poverty isn’t easy unless
we can do something about the large-scale problems
that sustain poverty. Helping Mihaela is a film about the
challenges of helping others and encounters between
two different realities.
lished three young-adult fiction books and a children’s picture book. Suhonen studied art history and theater research
at the University of Helsinki 1984–1988. He has worked as a
critic since 1986.
Helping Mihaela
Kerjäläiselokuva
A Roma beggar kneeling on the street awakens strong
feelings in people: guilt, anger, sympathy and frustration. Most people walk past them, but there are always
people who want to help.
Hanna Maylett
31
2011 | HDcam, DigiBeta | 16:9 | Sound Mix 5.1 | 96’
Director, script, sound recording: Hanna Maylett Cinematography: Jyri Hakala Editing: Tuula Mehtonen Sound
editing, audio mixing: Janne Laine Violin music: Sanna
Salmenkallio Producer: Sonja Lindén Production manager:
based on economic interests; now is the time to bear some
social responsibility. We have to be able to do something
about the large-scale problems that sustain poverty. The
responsibility can’t be on the shoulders of a few individuals
who are fighting against windmills.
Mina Laamo Production company: Avanton Productions Oy
Production support: The Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK,
The Church Media Foundation Financing TV company: YLE
Hanna Maylett
Ice Age and
the American Apartheid
Hanna Maylett has directed documentaries, fiction feature
Ice Age and the American Apartheid is a film about the
films, short films, TV films and TV drama series. Maylett grad-
(Erottamattomat), premiered in Finland in 2008.
current status of the African American community.
The film explores the present-day circumstances in the
USA through interviews, community action organisations, and the media. Ice Age and the American Apartheid questions what the civil rights struggles in the past
decades have gained for African Americans. The documentary exposes a hollow freedom for a minority group
that remains segregated in contemporary America.
Director Hanna Maylett:
2012 | BluRay, DigiBeta | 16:9 | stereo | 90’
uated from the University of Art and Design Helsinki UIAH in
2000, majoring in documentary directing. In the same year,
she was selected for the Cinefondation Residence in Paris
at the Cannes International Film Festival. Hanna Maylett’s
previous documentaries have won many international and
national awards. Her debut fiction feature, Sisters Apart
I hope my film will show that humanity means concrete acts
and efforts to make an impact on the things happening around
us instead of always shoving them at others to take care of.
From the beginning it was clear that I wanted to approach
Director, Script, Music: Joe Davidow Cinematography:
Tahvo Hirvonen Editing: Antony
Bentley Sound Design: Heikki Inna-
the subject of Roma beggars from Eastern European countries
nen Producer: Pertti Veijalainen
on an individual level, not as a faceless phenomenon. After
and Venla Hellstedt Production
making the film and after all that happened, I understand
Company: Illume Oy Production
better what makes Mihaela go back to the streets over and
Support: The Finnish Film Founda-
over again.
tion, AVEK, MEDIA (development
One person can do a lot – even though the change won’t
slate support) Financing TV Com-
happen overnight. We can help by demanding more justice
panies: YLE TV2 International
in Europe. Romania was accepted into the European Union
Sales: Illume Oy
Joe Davidow
Ice Age and the American Apartheid
32
Leap
Joe Davidow
Joe Davidow is an American composer and film director
who has lived and worked in Europe since the 1970s. He was
educated at the New York College of Music, the Moscow
someone outside ourselves. First and foremost, it’s a film
about religion and religiousness, and maybe even love.
Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He has
Director, script: Jouko Aaltonen Cinematography: Marita
resided permanently in Finland since 1978. His documentary
Hällfors Editing: Samu Heikkilä Sound design: Martti
films deal with social issues, such as poverty, discrimination,
Turunen Producer: Illume Oy / Pertti Veijalainen Produc-
HIV and AIDS. Selected filmography as a Director: My Mad-
tion company: Illume Oy Production support: The Finn-
ness is My Love (2006), Search For Answers (2002) and
ish Film Foundation, AVEK, The Church Media Foundation
Hidden Passion (2000).
KMS, MEDIA (development slate support), University of
Winchester, UK Financing TV companies: YLE TV2, ERR Eesti
Leap
Hyppy
Leap is a documentary about faith, choices, searching and
finding. Kenneth is a Finnish tram driver who’s looking for direction and meaning in his life. He believes he
will find it through God. When he found Krishna, he
became Keshava Mashava (das). Richard is from Illinois,
USA. He was traveling in India in the 1970s when he
met Swami Prabhubada, the founder of the Hare Krishna
movement. Now Richard himself has became a prominent religious leader, Radhanath Swami, who frequently
meets both religious and secular leaders all over the
world. Radhanath Swami is Keshava’s spiritual teacher,
a guru, whose footsteps Keshava follows. Keshava has
to make big decisions when he looks for direction in his
life. Through the meeting of these two men and their
story, Leap tells of spiritual search, choices and love for
International sales: Illume Oy
Jouko Aaltonen
Jouko Aaltonen has directed and produced numerous documentaries with subjects ranging from the Siberian Taiga
to the diplomatic circles of New Delhi. In 2006 his featurelength documentary musical Revolution (Kenen joukoissa
seisot) attracted record-breaking audiences and won the
Finnish Jussi Award for Best Documentary. He is also a lecturer and
author of study books on cinema.
His previous films include Battle
for the City (Taistelu Turusta,
2011), A Man from the Congo
River (Kongon Akseli, 2009),
Punksters & Youngsters (Punk
– tauti, joka ei tapa, 2008) and
Kusum (2000).
Jouko Aaltonen
33
The Passenger
The Passenger
Red Forest Hotel
Matkustaja
Punaisen metsän hotelli
”When you’re on the tram, somebody always starts to
chat with you… or at least, quite often.” An 11-yearold girl meets an elderly man with a story on the tram.
They tell it together.
A Finnish news photographer, who’s lived in Beijing
for fifteen years, starts making a movie about a massive
tree planting campaign in China. Due to the looming
climate change, the giant country invests heavily in recycling and renewable energy, among other things. The
photographer wants to find out if authoritarian China
could become an example on green politics for other
countries. The film project experiences a surprising
twist when the photographer travels to plantations in the
southern Chinese province of Guangxi and is stopped by
local authorities.
A Finnish-owned forest products company is planting
enormous eucalyptus tree plantations in Guangxi; they
are supposed to provide raw material for a paper mill the
company is planning to build. The atmosphere becomes
Kafkaesque: the authorities are friendly but do everything to stop the photographer from interviewing local
people. The filmmaker is confined to a hotel, and his
local contacts arrested. When he finally makes it to the
local villages, he finds out why the authorities have been
so secretive.
The authorities smile all the time, and the forest industry giant avoids taking responsibility. The authori-
2011 | DigiBeta, BluRay | 16:9 | 5.1 | 28’
Director, Script, Producer: Pia Andell Cinematography: Pekka
Uotila Editing:Antony Bentley Sound design: Kirsi Korhonen
Set Design: Marjaana Rantama Animation:Jan Andersson
Production Company: Of Course My Films Production
Support: Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK, Kirkon mediasäätiö
Financing TV Companies: YLE
Milla von Konow
Pia Andell
Pia Andell has directed documentary
films since 1992. Her films have been
screened and awarded at Finnish
and international film festivals, e.g.
Nordisk Panorama, IDFA, BANFF and
Prix Europa. Her latest works include
Göring´s Baton (2010) and Awakening – The Dreamed and Invented
World of Otto Mäkilä (2011).
Pia Andell
34
Russian Libertine
ties’ attempts to cover up something unpleasant and the
company’s PR tricks are revealed in front of the camera
in a tragicomic way. Red Forest Hotel poses questions if
Finnish forest industry know-how, despite being widely
acclaimed, is really environmentally friendly and exported in a socially just way.
Venäjän vapain mies
2011 | DCP, HDCAM | 16:9 | Stereo 5.1 | 84’
Director, script, producer Mika Koskinen Cinematography
Mika Koskinen, Mika Mattila Editing Kauko Lindfors Sound
design Janne Laine Production company Luxian Productions
Production support The Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK
Financing TV companies YLE TV2, SVT, NRK
Milla von Konow
Mika Koskinen
Mika Koskinen has been
living in Beijing since 1994
and speaks fluent Chinese.
He has been working for
Luxian productions as an
independent documentary
film maker and as a news &
current affairs cameraman-
Author Victor Erofeyev is a troublemaker. He has been
in conflict with the Russian state for decades because
of his Western ideology. His views have landed him in
court and have even led to death threats. His family life
has also been affected – the political death of his father,
a high-ranking Communist officer, is attributed to Victor’s books challenging the State. But through all this
Victor has stayed in Russia to help inspire change.
What makes Victor risk everything for democracy
in a country where it just doesn’t seem to fit? Behind
the scenes and at election time a power battle is taking
place. The country’s rulers do not change and political
history repeats itself, yet despite this, something has
changed. Ordinary people as well as different extremist movements have begun to demand political reform.
Russian Libertine recounts the unique story of Victor
and helps to understand the mentality of this immense
country’s people, who need faith to be able to survive in
a world of uncertainty.
2012 | DCP, DigiBeta | 1:1.85 | Stereo | 75’ and 52’
editor for European broadcasters in Asia.
Director, script: Ari Matikainen Cinematography: HannuMika Koskinen
Red Forest Hotel
Red Forest Hotel
Red Forest Hotel
35
Russian Libertine
Pekka Vitikainen Editing: Paulii-
band in the world – and they’re here to make a fuss.
na Punkki Sound design: Mikko
2012 | HD, 35 mm | 16:9 | Stereo | 50’ and 90’
Mäkelä Music: Janne Haavisto
Producer: Liisa Juntunen Pro-
Director, Script: Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi Cinematography:
duction company: Kinocom-
J-P Passi Sound Design: Tormod Ringnes, Jørgen Bergsund
pany Finland Oy Production
Editing: Riitta Poikselkä Music: Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät Pro-
support: SES, AVEK Financing
ducer: Sami Jahnukainen Production Company: Mouka Filmi
TV companies: YLE, NRK Inter-
Co-Production: Indie Film (Norway), Auto Images (Sweden),
national sales: CAT & Docs
Film I Skåne (Sweden) Production Support: The Finnish Film
Foundation, ESEK & LUSES, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Norsk Film
Ari Matikainen
institut, Svensk Filminstitut Financing TV companies:
Ari Matikainen (b. 1970) is a
Ari Matikainen
YLE TV2, SVT, NRK
director and scriptwriter of
several documentary films and TV series. He graduated from
Jukka Kärkkäinen
University of Arts and Design Helsinki as a director. His de-
Jukka Kärkkainen has been making documentary films
gree work, the feature documentary Lone Star Hotel was
since 2003. Aside from film-making, Jukka also works as a
distributed theatrically in Finland and won a Jussi Award for
construction worker. He is the co-founder of Mouka Filmi
Best Documentary. His latest feature documentary Russian
Production Company. His selected filmography includes
Libertine, will be released in cinemas in 2012.
The Living Room of the Nation (2009), Tomorrow was
The Punk Syndrome
Kovasikajuttu
Milla von Konow
Yesterday (2009) and The Smoking Room (2006).
The Punk Syndrome is a film about the Finnish punk-
rock band Pertti Kurikan nimipäivät (Pertti Kurikka’s
Name Day), formed by four mentally disabled guys. It
follows the band’s journey from the rehearsal room to
festival stages and into the limelight. The film shows
the dynamics between the band members, the arguments, the crying, and the laughter. It shows what punk
used to be about: misfits screaming their lungs out
about real problems. This is why they are the last punk
J-P Passi and Jukka Kärkkäinen
36
The Punk Syndrome
J-P Passi
Director, script, editing: PV Lehtinen Cinematography: Matti
J-P Passi has been working as a cinematographer since 2000.
Helariutta, Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen Sound design: Micke
He also works as a screenwriter and director. His selected
Nyström Music: Biosphere, Tapani Rinne & Tuomas Norvio
filmography includes: The Living Room of the Nation
Producer: PV Lehtinen Production company: Cineparadiso
(2009), Tomorrow was Yesterday (2009) and The Painting
Oy Production support: The Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK,
Sellers (2010).
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Helsinki Municipality, Arts Council of Helsinki Metropolitan Region Financing TV company: YLE Co-productions International sales:
Soul Catcher
Sielunsieppaaja
”They say with every photo that is taken,
a piece of your soul goes with it”.
Soul Catcher is a film about a man who has lost his soul.
Many aboriginal tribes have believed that if someone
takes a photograph of them they lose their soul. Without a soul, the person was doomed and could no longer
be reborn. The film evolves on a beach and it’s central character is an African man whose ancestors were
maasai warriors. The maasai people believe that the
soul is situated in the head. Ants have also an important
role in this film, as they are highly respected by maasai
people. Many biologists consider ants as the masters
of the world because of their quantity and distribution. They reign with the variety of their species, communication and behaviour. Soul Catcher is a visually
impressive journey into the core of humanity. Without
any words, it tells a story in several layers and leaves the
viewer reflecting on our invisible essence, the beliefs
around it and humanity in general.
Cineparadiso Oy
PV Lehtinen
PV Lehtinen lives in Helsinki, Finland. He graduated as a
director from the School of Motion Picture, Television and
Production Design at the Aalto University of Art and Design
Helsinki. He works as an independent film maker and founded in
1999 his own production company
CineParadiso Oy. His films have
been awarded at numerous international film festivals. He has
also received the Risto Jarva prize
(2001), the most coveted film
award in Finland, awarded to the
most promising young film maker.
PV Lehtinen
2011 | 35 mm | DCP | DigiBeta |
1:2,35 (cinemascope) | Dolby Digital | 14’
Soul Catcher
37
Virtual War
Soundbreaker
Pirun palkeet
The deadpan recounting from childhood of the explosive death of a frog, and later the miraculous breech
birth of a calf, shape the emotional bookends of Soundbreaker, Kimmo Koskela’s rock doc feature film of
Finnish accordion legend and iconoclast Kimmo Pohjonen. In the opening sequence, as we drop through a
wintery ice hole along with the artist, we enter a world
of pure exhilaration. Fold away all thoughts you’ve ever
had about his instrument. A new Wikipedia entry for
accordion just got submitted! Extraordinary sounds
explode from his custom-made electrified instrument.
Using only accordion, voice, samples and effects, Pohjonen’s music transcends all musical genres all the way in
a composition performed with the world famous Kronos
Quartet. His performances are reminiscent of the violence of Roman gladiators and the self-flagellation of
medieval monks. The film is the journey of an exceptional artist, grounded in basic human truths. The cinematography and drama reveal a distinctive Northern
viewpoint.
2011 | DCP | 16:9 | Dolby Digital 5.1 | 86’
Director, Script, Cinematography: Kimmo Koskela Editing:
Kimmo Koskela, Jani Ahlstedt, Akke Eklund Sound Design:
Heikki Savolainen Music: Kimmo Pohjonen Producer: Kimmo
Koskela, Klaus Heydemann Production Company: Koskela
Art & Media House Co-production: Gernot Steinweg, Heikki
Savolainen Production Support: The Finnish Film Foundation,
AVEK, ESEK, Arts Council of Finland, Nordisk Film og TV Fond
Financing TV companies: YLE TV2, SVT
Kimmo Koskela (b.1960) has worked in cinema, photography
and media art since the early 1980s. He has collaborated
with celebrated Finnish visual art pioneers, such as Eija-Liisa
Ahtila and Arno Rafael Minkkinen. Koskela lives and works in
Milla von Konow
Helsinki, where he runs
38
Virtuaalinen sota
Virtual War is a film about Hazman, a refugee, who
lost her family in the Chechen conflict. In Finland
she befriends human rights activist Mikael Storsjö and
together they help people escape war-torn Chechnya.
They build a web-based virtual Chechnya on the Second Life, hoping it will become a platform where people
can interact without the fear of persecution.
We follow Hazman in her political work - at refugee
centres, where she helps and supports the exiled Chechen community - and at her private family gatherings.
At the same time, Finnish human rights activist Mikael
Storsjö is prosecuted in the Finnish court for arranging
illegal entry for dozens of Chechen refugees to Finland.
Virtual War shows refugees from a new viewpoint –
as politically active world citizens who harness the use of
new media and virtual worlds in order to advance peace.
Director, script: Pekka Niskanen Cinematography: Timo
Kimmo Koskela
Kimmo Koskela
Virtual War
Peltonen Editing: Mikko Sippola Sound design, music: Kimmo
Vänttinen Producer: Pertti Veijalainen & Venla Hellstedt
Production company: Illume Oy Production support: Finnish
Film Foundation, Centre for Audiovisual Culture Finland
Financing TV company: YLE TV1
his production company.
Pekka Niskanen
Koskela Art & Media
Pekka Niskanen has been a
House is an independent
practising Artist since 1990
production company for
and has also used the media
film productions and
of film and video in his work,
high-end audio-visual
which focuses on family dy-
programs for the arts
namics and the estranged
and the performing arts,
modern man within his own
including documentaries,
culture. He has curated art
portraits of artists, and
exhibitions and lectured on
adaptations of music and
art at established arts insti-
dance for the camera.
tutions.
Pekka Niskanen
Editorial staff: Published by the Finnish Film Foundation | Tytti Rantanen (editor), Marja Pallassalo, Otto Suuronen | Aretta Vähälä (translation of the interviews), Matthew James (editing) | Layout: Praxis Oy | Printed by Premedia Helsinki, 2011
Soundbreaker
Producers and International Sales Companies
Avanton Productions Oy
Klaffi Productions
Nordic Film Pool Oy Ltd
Harjuviita 16 A 21
Nahkatehtaankatu 2
Pyhtääntie 10
FI-02110 Espoo
FI-90130 Oulu
FI-00600 Helsinki
Tel. +358 50 567 1895
Tel. +358 10 439 2905
Tel. +358 520 7600
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.klaffi.com
CAT&Docs
www.catndocs.com
Of Course My Films
Koskela Art & Media House
Nordenskiöldinkatu 3b A 11
Merimiehenkatu 23
00250 Helsinki
Cine Paradiso Oy
FI-00150 Helsinki
Tel. +358 40 544 1213
Hermannin rantatie 20
Tel. +358 400 491 022
Fax: +358 9 2417233
FI-00580 Helsinki
[email protected]
[email protected]
Tel. +358 50 582 8634
www.koskela.tv
Oktober Oy
Deckert Distribution GmbH
Luxian Productions
Uutiskatu 3
www.deckert-distribution.com
Kaitaankulma 5C
FI-00240 Helsinki
FI-02360 Espoo
Tel. +358 40 709 3331
Illume Oy
Tel. +358 405065403
[email protected]
Palkkatilankatu 7
[email protected]
www.oktober.fi
FI-00240 Helsinki
Tel. / Fax +358 9 148 1489
Mouka Filmi Oy
[email protected]
Vilhonvuorenkatu 11 B 7
www.illume.fi
FI-00500 Helsinki Finland
Tel. +358 9 428 60640
Kinocompany Oy
Fax +358 19 488 692
Vilhonvuorenkatu 11 A
[email protected]
FI-00500 Helsinki
www.mouka.fi
Tel. +358 50 551 2235
www.kinocompany.fi
Festival contacts
for all titles:
Kanavakatu 12, FI-00160 Helsinki
Tel. +358 9 6220 300
Fax +358 9 6220 3050
[email protected]
www.ses.fi
[email protected]
Back cover: Soul Catcher by PV Lehtinen
39
www.ses.fi
40

Finnish documentary film

Transcription

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