Age rating: K-12

Published: April 17, 2024

Väärät juuret

The father of the Kuura family, Mikko, has been diagnosed with a hereditary disease. He has not been able to come to terms with it or discuss it. As his condition worsens, his wife Mirjami has decided that it’s time to tell the children.

Sakari, Mikko’s son from a previous marriage, has been abroad for years. He has fled from his father and his demands to continue the family business. Pihla, the family’s 15-year-old daughter, wants to start her own independent life, and Lumi, the daughter adopted from China, begins a secret journey to find her own roots. Mikko’s illness brings the members of the Kuura family together under the same roof for the first time, forcing them to address questions of family continuity and to open up about long-standing issues within the family.

What will remain of us? Clothes wear out in a few years. Dishes are kept until the next move. Furniture breaks or goes out of style. A pile of memories – they last until no one remembers anymore.

Director:
Saara Saarela

Starring:
Milka Ahlroth
Pertti Sveholm
Silva Robbins
Niko Saarela

Note: No longer available on DVD or Blu-ray distribution.

Published: April 17, 2024

Ompelijatar

The movie tells the story of how the life of a poor, semi-deaf woman leads to an inevitable conclusion in early independent Finland. She was arrested as a member of the Red Guard women’s company in 1918 and sentenced to a prison camp. Since then, she has been marked as “classified as dangerous to society.” In the 1920s, she was actively involved in leftist youth associations in Helsinki, led a literary committee, and writes for organization newsletters.

The state police have all the rights to intervene in radical activities; the unity of the nation must be ensured by any means necessary. In the early 1930s, communist activities are banned by law, and accordingly, paranoia increases. The State Police monitor and report on the lives of thousands of people. The distinction between treason and heroism becomes blurred.

Martta Koskinen never makes a fuss about herself, but she is reported several times. She meets Hertta Kuusinen in prison, which leads her to the circles of the intelligentsia. She works diligently as a seamstress, among others for the writer Hella Wuolijoki. She always helps her juniors to the best of her abilities and during the Continuation War, she assists conscientious objectors, compromising her own modest standard of living.

She becomes a messenger for the underground resistance movement, whose activities are almost non-existent, largely due to the mutual squabbling of a small circle. She hides a leading communist figure, Hertta Kuusinen’s fiancé, Yrjö Leino. When caught, she refuses to reveal anything.

Martta Koskinen is seen as a traitor, a spy, an enemy collaborator. To some, she is a prisoner of conscience, a dissident, a pacifist.

“The Seamstress” is a human rights story from 70 years ago and at the same time a story of young Finland.

Director:
Ville Suhonen

Starring:
Vera Kiiskinen
Laura Birn
Elena Leeve
Pekka Milonoff

The film was awarded the Best Documentary Film Jussi Award.

Note: Not available on DVD or Blu-ray distribution.

Published: April 16, 2024

Nimby

The events kick off when the urbanized Mervi takes her girlfriend Kati to the countryside to visit her parents for the first time. Mervi is worried that her parents will have a hard time accepting the couple – especially since Kati’s mother is Iranian and her father is German – but it turns out that Mervi herself has a lot more to digest once they arrive. The parents’ peculiar, open relationship, Mervi’s ex-boyfriend involved with neo-Nazis, her semi-religious godparents, and the conflicts arising from the refugees who have moved to the area don’t exactly make the visit easier.

Published: April 11, 2024

The Color Purple

Separated from her sister and children, Celie faces numerous hardships, including an aggressive husband. With the support of a singer and her stepdaughter, she ultimately finds exceptional strength in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood. The musical film is based on Alice Walker’s novel of the same name and features performers such as Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. The songs in the musical blend jazz, R&B, and blues, adding their atmosphere to the film.

Published: March 27, 2024

The Call of the Wild

“The Call of the Wild” is an adventure film released in 2020, based on Jack London’s novel of the same name. The movie follows the story of a dog named Buck, who is taken from California to the Alaskan wilderness to become a member of a dog sled team. Buck must adapt to harsh conditions and find his place within the pack. Along the way, he befriends John Thornton, who teaches him important life lessons. The film provides a modern interpretation of Jack London’s classic and highlights its timeless themes. Starring Harrison Ford and Terry Notary in lead roles.

Published: March 15, 2024

Kyytiä Moosekselle

In the year 2000, teenagers aged 12-15 rewrote the Ten Commandments of the Bible as follows:

I am a cell phone, thou shalt have no other gods.
For fuck’s sake, thou shalt not swear.
Chill the fuck out.
Respect thy folks, if you can.
Let people live.
Thou shalt not be a revolving door.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not frame thy friend.
Is it not enough to lust after another’s room?
Open thine eyes – you have everything.
Go to the movies.

These same teenagers have created scripts for the movie “Ride for Moses”. Alongside director Kaija Juurikkala, they improvised ten different stories based on the old commandments of the Bible, which the film crew then made into a movie with them. The teenagers themselves play all the roles, for which they have also written the dialogue. An actual script was never written.

Director:
Kaija Juurikkala

Starring:
Markus Vuorinen
Joni Hovisilta
Oona Louhivaara
Vilma Vuorio

Published: March 14, 2024

Vuosisadan häät

“The Wedding of the Century” is a comedy where the groom’s former partner takes center stage at the wedding. Celebrity psychiatrist Viima Von Ausgezeichnet, known from television and enjoying fame, is at the center of his own life but secretly experiences loneliness. When his former partner gets married, Viima must find a high-profile companion for the wedding to show that everything is going well for him. His search for a companion in the Helsinki night between Friday and Sunday is filled with expensive wines and unpleasant hangovers. However, anyone could land the role of their dreams as Viima’s escort – and unforgettable wedding of the century awaits.

Director:
Marja Pyykkö

Starring:
Outi Mäenpää
Mikko Leppilampi
Matleena Kuusniemi

Published: March 13, 2024

Veljeni vartija

Veljeni vartija tells the story of Jare and Jere Tiihonen, twin boys from a broken family where violence is a learned norm from their father. Known as tough guys in their youth in Lahti, the brothers take different paths. Jare seeks street credibility and succeeds in the Finnish rap scene, creating an alter ego – Cheek. Jere ends up behind bars for assault and promises to end the cycle of violence. Jere settles down and starts a family. As Cheek’s popularity grows, Jare experiences a tearing conflict: should he remain the streetwise and selfish artist Cheek, or become the caring boyfriend spending safe, normal life with his beloved Noora. Jare’s inner turmoil eventually finds an explanation – bipolar disorder – and the solution lies in psychiatric medication. What does it take to break all expectations or curses and take control of one’s life?

Director:
JP Siili

Starring:
Antti Holma
Armi Toivanen
Saga Sarkola
Alina Tomnikov

The film won the Audience Choice Jussi Award.

Published: March 13, 2024

Headfirst

Essi, in her thirties, is a single mother and a cashier at a gas station café in Vantaa, who easily loses her temper. It doesn’t help that her teenage daughter, Takku, constantly gets into trouble at school and has already changed schools several times. Takku’s new school teacher, Lasse, was infatuated with Essi when he was younger. Lasse is not an exemplary teacher and projects his own traumas onto his students. Meanwhile, middle-aged alcoholic Sakke might be Essi’s father. When Takku breaks school rules again, Essi persuades Sakke to become her daughter’s classroom assistant.

Director:
Antti Heikki Pesonen

Starring:
Armi Toivanen
Mimosa Willamo
Eero Ritala
Kai Lehtinen

The film won a total of two Jussi Awards:
Best Supporting Actress (Mimosa Willamo)
Best Screenplay (Antti Heikki Pesonen)

Published: March 7, 2024

Missä kuljimme kerran

Based on Kjell Westö’s Finlandia Prize-winning novel, the film explores humanity and love amidst the upheavals of the nation.

Early 20th-century Helsinki is essentially two cities: the idyllic world of the wealthy upper class and the slum quarters of the poor laborers. The story spans decades, illustrating how time, place, and social class both bring people together and drive them apart.

Independent and curious, Lucie (Jessica Grabowsky) refuses to conform to the mold of upper-class women. Her childhood friend, the photographer Eccu (Jakob Öhrman), passionately loves the wild and eccentric Lucie, but his heart belongs to Allu (Andreas af Enehielm), a young working-class football hero.

The film also features Allu’s father, Enok (Elmer Bäck), Lucie’s politically fervent brother Cedi (Oskar Pöysti), the humanist observer Ivar Grandell (Niklas Groundstroem), and other beloved characters from the novel.

Director:
Peter Lindholm

Starring:
Jakob Öhrman
Jessica Grabowsky
Andreas af Enehielm
Oskar Pöysti