The Unknown Woman is a documentary film scripted and directed by Elina Kivihalme. It depicts the reality of Finnish agriculture and forestry during the war years, when the home front relied entirely upon the work and endurance of the women. All farm work, caring for the children, woodcutting and other forestry operations were undertaken by the civilians, as the men in their prime were on the front.
Manne, Harri, and Ville Alfa are rootless twenty-somethings in search of purpose for their banal lives. After Manne steals a priceless painting from a group of petty criminals, Manne and Harri flee from the gangsters across Finland, while Ville goes to Paris. On the road they meet Veera, an old girlfriend of Harri's, and try to avoid the gangsters in pursuit.
Baby Girl, 30, a poet with a bachelor's degree in arts, is anguished because of her relationship with Pirkka, a relatively smart, young man. Baby Girl's parents, Eila and Rampe, do their best to become friends with Pirkka and his elegant mother. Through coincidence and error Eila occupies her summerhouse neighbors' empty luxury villa. When Pirkka's mother drops by, Eila lies that she and Rampe own the fancy house. The showing off and lying escalate when Eila's mother and sister show up. The real owners of the house, an upper-class couple, Thomas and Monica, are driven away to Eila and Rampe's modest cottage.
Rousku and Raninen are fleeing their unemployment by setting up a construction company. Occupational illiteracy is not an obstacle and accounting is fine when Rouskun's mate deals with things. The entrepreneurs know that the poor can be, but not artificial. But what's the point for the scratchy women? Especially when Rousku gets to look in the mirror again and find out what kind of father, such a daughter.
Story about human relationships, love and forgiveness.
Rome, Paris and Helsinki right after the Madrid bombings. Three stories about people who, for different reasons, are afraid of others – the eponymous "thy neighbor." A humanity full of differences, but at the same time, with very similar feelings. So similar that their stories appear almost parallel and complementary.
Two diverse families meet for the first time over Christmas dinner. The evening goes off the rails right from the start when the male host couple reveal a closely guarded secret: there's also a hostess in the house, and she's very pregnant! Of course, the frantic group of relatives don't take the news lightly and demand the paternity to be confirmed - which is no simple task. A series of misunderstandings drives the Christmas guests to the brink of a nervous breakdown, and as the evening progresses, Santa Claus himself is forced to look in the mirror. Their Christmas together seems doomed to failure until, to everyone's surprise, the evening culminates in a heart-melting Christmas miracle.
Year 1977. Punk and new wave rock'n roll has arrived to remote Finland and a bleak small town Oulu where increasingly odd-looking youths began to appear in the street with a message. Their rebellion speaks to Välde (17). Välde dreams of joining a rock band and becoming famous. He wants to get drunk for the first time, and to win the love of Pike, the most beautiful girl in the class. When Pike wins the Miss Blue Jeans contest organised by the country´s leading (and only) pop music magazine Suosikki and takes as her boyfriend the bourgeois Henri Hakala, Välde puts all his eggs in one basket. He abandons his former self and begins purposefully constructing a new persona for himself. But everything doesn’t go as Välde wanted … The film is based on a novel by Kauko Röyhkä, an author and indie rock musician.
A Finnish film version of Macbeth. Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Talkative, hyperactive young drifter Ville Alfa goes around Helsinki, basically trying to borrow money from friends and strangers by means of an incessant delivery of quirky and snappy quasi-intellectual lines and fabricated excuses.
TV play about the legend of Lalli.
Thousands of years ago in ancient China, a man fights against his destiny. He wants another chance to be reunited with his loved one and he gets that chance, in a far away place and a far away time, in modern Finland.
Eevi works in a beauty parlor, leading a humdrum life in the suburbs of Helsinki with his husband Kari, a wannabe rocker. After the jackpot, the couple agrees to carry on with their lives as before, without telling anyone about the stroke of luck. But the money is burning holes in their pockets and that’s hard to hide. Their opinions about themselves and their relationship are put to the test. Everyone seems now to have a strange attitude towards them – although they try to pretend to be the same people as before. Do the millions bring happiness after all?
How do artists view their own work? How does actor Esko Salminen immerse himself in his roles, how does the writer/director Saara Turunen create a whole new world for the stage, and why does musician PK Keränen pick up his guitar time and time again? Is creativity a conscious or subconscious process, a pleasure or a compulsion? Veikko Aaltonen’s documentary takes us straight into the heart of creativity with artists from different fields and generations. Celebrating the various forms of passion and creative work, the film presents a compelling case for the significance of art.
Anna Kelanen is an ex-model, who just has been released from prison. She thinks back on her life, when she was a rather successful model, and on the things that went wrong.
Matti Pellonpää (1951-1995) was one of the most talented Finnish actors of his generation. In Eero Tuomikoski's documentary, we meet Pellonpää in 1984, after Kaurismäki's Arvottomat film, but before his actual big breakthrough.
Anna is a 16-year old in a village where women are accused of witchcraft. It's based on the witch hunts on Åland, Finland in the 1600s.
Miami is the story of two sisters who have grown up separately. The older sister, Angela, is an exotic dancer with her own touring dance group. The younger, Anna, on the threshold of adulthood, lives in a small town working in sales. When their father dies, Anna looks for and finds Angela. The fascinating, high-strung Angela asks the timid Anna to accompany her on tour and, before long, trouble from Angela’s past catches up to them and the sisters’ love is put to the test.
Anssi Mänttäri’s low-budget movies with their intimate content have become classics. In this black comedy that takes place in Helsinki in summer the main character (played by Mänttäri himself) jumps from one bar and bed to the next. Especially vulgar black humour.
Widowed and broke Finnish businessman Kari takes his two teenage daughters with him to Brazil. A bush pilot introduces him to the idea of gold mining in the jungle, but a beautiful and educated local woman warns him about the possible consequences to the rain forest. Kari has mixed feelings about the project, until an accident puts him in the care of a local Indian tribe.
Ella, a girl from the province, starts her freshman year at the Helsinki Business School. The capital's party scene introduces her to ecstasy, and together with her new friend Silja and boyfriend Jokke she can't help finding it an easy and lucrative business opportunity. The three soon develop an addiction not so much to the drug but to all the good things that the money can buy. But before long, reality bites back.
A man fakes his own suicide in order to see how his close ones react.
Documentary about the life of Finnish actor Matti Pellonpää.
The story of a woman who leaves her family in Finland because she is offered a job at a refugee camp in Africa.
Thirty-year-old twins Jenna and Joni find out that their father has a third child. Sister Jóna lives in Iceland. The siblings' meeting will change everyone's world, relationships and future. As each searches for meaning in their own lives, surging between one father, two homelands and three adult siblings, from reunification to separation and back again. Over the years, the siblings encounter themselves and each other, their similarities and differences.
A group of men all called Frank—except for one named Pekka—have had enough of life in their working-class neighborhood, so they set off for a better existence in the magical seaside district of Eira. But the way is long, and the group face many hurdles including stray dogs and defunct streetlights.
Black drama-comedy about elementary school teacher Kaisa who has lost control of her life.
After Nazi Germany invades Poland in September 1939, Russia attacks Finland two months later. Finnish reservists leave home and go to war. Brothers Martti and Paavo Hakala, farmers from the municipality of Kauhava in the province of Pohjanmaa/Ostrobothnia, serve in a Finnish platoon.
The story of a rock band "Kalle Päätalo" in the 1980s.
An arctic comedy about the childlike, sincere Kauko and his desire to grow up. It is a story about two brothers who accidentally end up in each other's pants. In the Lapland summer night, they encounter lovers, petty criminals, and Kauko, who is learning the ABCs of love.
Marja (Minka Kuustonen) is a blogger. Olavi is one of the richest men in the country. She might be able to save her blog if she dates him, but what if she falls for him for real?
Finland in the 50s saw a time where boats from all over the world docked in the harbor city of Kotka. In addition to transporting goods, the sailors brought with them another import: jazz, swing and blues. A tale of music-loving, fearless and passionate young men decide to open Fennia, a jazz bar. Soon Fennia achieves legendary status and the men; the Harbour Brothers, play their music and hold court like emperors.
An comedy set in 1960s Helsinki. The story revolves around Elsa, a resolute hatmaker who is in complete control of her life. Besides running her shop, she sometimes doubles as a fortune teller. When Jan, a Czechoslovakian jazz musician and Elsa's old lover comes to town to perform at a "peace and friendship festival", her well-organised life is jolted out of balance.
At first glance Maarit looks like any other woman in her early forties. There is, however, something strange under the surface. She radiates sexual energy that is hard to define.
Aalto is one of the greatest names in modern architecture and design, Aino and Alvar Aalto gave their signature to iconic Scandic design. The first cinematic portrait of their life love story is an enchanting journey of their creations and influence around the world.
Middle-aged Late is building a fence in his family home for a summer break, but he falls in love with his daughter's new friend, 16-year old flirtatious Saija.
Katri's husband has died in the Finnish Winter War. When the Continuation War begins, Katri volunteers to work in a Helsinki military hospital. She is courted by a patient, a poetry-reciting countryman bound to be released from service. In the same time, she dates old school friend Eero who even goes AWOL to be near her. As the war continues, Katri has to make difficult decisions about her life.
Kari Uusitalo, a regular visitor to the Tampere Film Festival, delved into the state of Finnish cinema of the mid-1980s, while getting to know the new generation of filmmakers in Anssi Mänttäri's comedic short documentary. Deep in Reppufilmi's cellar, in addition to director Mänttäri, we meet Pirkko Hämäläinen, Markku Toikka, Matti Pellonpää, Paavo Piskonen and Pauli Pentti. The film poses the question: why is a person, an artist, willing to risk everything over and over again?
Art dealer James has been happily married to Eleanor for many years. Everything changes when James becomes involved in a passionate affair with Kate, who is considerably younger than him. Eleanor finds out about her husband's secret relationship, and James promises to end it. But James is unable to resist temptation and gives in to his passion...
A typically idiosyncratic mini-mystery about a middle-aged man who gets out of prison, sells his shares in a company and announces that he’s heading off to Siberia to get married. Central scene, in which he convinces a woman to come with him, takes place in a Finnish rockabilly club. The Hitchcockian pacing, as the man endeavours to make his train, supplies nice momentum, and wrap-up provides a satisfying revelation as to what’s actually afoot.
Annastiina Kankaanrinta is the politician who started lex70 - the law limits Finnish citizenship to 70 years, which makes the 70th anniversary of the citizens' 70th birthday effectively a public euthanasia day. Now Annastiina is preparing for her own death day. The death celebrations have been carefully prepared, but as the final frontier looms, the surface of a perfect life begins to crack.