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The Time of the Migratory Bird is a film written and directed by Anssi Mänttäri. It tells the story of a father and daughter who haven’t seen each other in eleven years. Katja, the daughter, decides to find out what kind of man her father is and moves in with him.
Director: Anssi Mänttäri
Starring:
Antti Litja
Hanna Manu
Kari Heiskanen
Liisa Halonen
The film was also awarded the Jussi Award for Best Screenplay!
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The movie, based on Bertolt Brecht’s play, follows the farmer Puntila, who is a real pig when sober but becomes very generous when drunk. Puntila tries to get his daughter married, but the problem is that his drunk self wants her to marry a different man than his sober self does.
Director, Writer:
Ralf Långbacka
Story:
Hella Wuolijoki
Writer:
Bertolt Brecht
Lassi Pöysti won the Jussi Award for Best Actor.
Note: No longer available on DVD or Blu-ray.
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The family’s younger son has died in an accident in the yard of their home. Those left behind try to find a way forward amidst their grief. While the mother mourns inconsolably, it falls to the father to take care of the family’s daily routines. The surviving son feels that he has lost not only his little brother but also his parents. The lack of understanding from those around them makes the family’s situation more difficult, and alongside the heavy loss, earlier, unresolved, and unspoken griefs begin to surface.
The film begins the day after the accident and quietly and compassionately follows an ordinary Finnish family’s recovery during the first year of mourning. Gradually, the loss transforms the family’s seemingly unchanged daily life. Themes such as grief and the inability to grieve, the different ways and timing in which men, women, and children mourn, and the surrounding community’s need to forget and carry on “as if nothing had happened” are some of the key elements in this fundamentally hopeful film.
The film is based on a true series of events that took place in 1986 in Pietarsaari, and the screenplay was written in close collaboration with the family who lost their child.
Director:
Kari Paljakka
Starring:
Hannu-Pekka Björkman
Katja Küttner
Johannes Paljakka
Risto Salmi
Hannu-Pekka Björkman won the Jussi Award for Best Actor.
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Aki Kaurismäki’s adaptation of Henri Murger’s novel Scènes de la vie de bohème, filmed in France and in French, tells the story of three artists – Albanian painter Rodolfo (Matti Pellonpää), writer Marcel Marx (André Wilms), and composer Schaunard (Kari Väänänen) – and their struggles and friendship amidst the complexities of the bohemian artist’s life and poverty. Rodolfo falls in love with Mimi (Evelyne Didi), but is later deported when his residence permit expires. Later, Rodolfo returns illegally and reunites with Mimi, but the often harsh realities of bohemian life continue to challenge their romance. Mimi falls gravely ill, and the three artists do everything they can to raise the money needed for her care. During a visit to Mimi in the hospital, she asks Rodolfo to go outside and pick some flowers. When Rodolfo returns to the room, Mimi has already passed away. Rodolfo informs his waiting friends outside that he wants to be alone and walks away.
Director:
Aki Kaurismäki
Starring:
Matti Pellonpää
André Wilms
Kari Väänänen
The film won the 2007 Jussi Award for Best Direction.
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The first part of Aki Kaurismäki’s Finland Trilogy, Drifting Clouds, dedicated to the memory of Matti Pellonpää, tells the story of head waitress Ilona (Kati Outinen) and her husband Lauri (Kari Väänänen), who works as a tram driver. Both suddenly lose their jobs and are forced to rebuild their lives and social dignity from scratch. The resilient couple eventually decides to open their own restaurant with the help of their friends, and after many challenges, their shared dream becomes a reality. The opening night is filled with tension as they await their first customers, who soon start to arrive. Their risky venture succeeds. The happy Lauri and Ilona step outside in front of their restaurant with their family dog and look up at the sky, where the clouds drift freely.
Director:
Aki Kaurismäki
Starring:
Kati Outinen
Kari Väänänen
Elina Salo
The film won Jussi Awards for Best Direction, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, and Film of the Year.
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In the modern industrial setting of Ruoholahti, Koistinen (Janne Hyytiäinen), a lonely man working as a night watchman, is relentlessly bullied by his coworkers. He dreams of starting his own business and shares this aspiration with Aila (Maria Heiskanen), who runs a sausage stand by the waterfront. Unbeknownst to Koistinen, Aila harbors deeper feelings for him.
One day, Koistinen meets Mirja (Maria Järvenhelmi), who is secretly working for the criminal boss Lindström (Ilkka Koivula). Mirja pretends to be infatuated with Koistinen, but at the opportune moment, she drugs him and steals his keyring to assist Lindström and his gang in robbing a diamond store. Koistinen refuses to implicate Mirja and is sentenced to two years in prison.
After his release, Koistinen tries to rebuild his life from almost nothing. By chance, he encounters Mirja and Lindström in a restaurant. Seeking revenge for the betrayal, he later attacks Lindström with a knife, but is subdued by the gangster’s henchmen. Lindström spares his life, though Koistinen is beaten nearly to death and left on the shore. Aila hears of his condition and finds him, bloodied and lying on the ground. ‘I won’t die from this,’ Koistinen promises her as their hands meet for the first time. (Text by Lauri Timonen)
Director:
Aki Kaurismäki
Starring:
Janne Hyytiäinen
Maria Järvenhelmi
Maria Heiskanen
Ilkka Koivula
The film won the 2007 Jussi Awards for Best Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Set Design.
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Everyone is familiar with the characters from the Niskavuori plays, but the tempestuous life story of the playwright Hella Wuolijoki is less well known. She negotiated peace during the Winter War, was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason during the Continuation War, but was pardoned after the signing of the Armistice. The very next year, following her release, she became the director of the Finnish Broadcasting Company and later entered Parliament. Screenwriter Outi Nyytäjä and director Juha Wuolijoki’s joint exploration of Hella Wuolijoki’s past brings the story of the famous playwright, politician, and businesswoman to a wider audience.
Director:
Juha Wuolijoki
Starring:
Tiina Weckström
Hannu-Pekka Björkman
Matleena Kuusniemi
The film won the 2012 Jussi Awards for Best Set Design and Best Costume Design.
Note: No longer available in DVD or Blu-ray distribution.
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The movie tells an incredible survival story of a Finnish woman based on true events. Jaana is a restaurateur and mother of two, who spends her free time riding horses. Jaana’s life changes drastically when she becomes paralyzed in a loading accident but manages to get back in the saddle and represent Finland in the Paralympics.
The film won the Audience’s Favorite Movie award at the Jussi Gala in 2021. It was directed by Tuukka Temonen, who also co-wrote the script with Olga Temonen.
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Maarit (played by Leea Klemola) is going through a major transition in life, as she recently underwent gender reassignment surgery and corrected her gender to female. However, Maarit must navigate the pitfalls of her past to move forward in life. She wants to reconcile with her ex-wife, build a relationship with her teenage daughter, and help other people. Maarit also longs to share the joys, sorrows, and her bed with someone. When Maarit meets Sami (played by Peter Franzén), who is struggling with a marital crisis, at the psychiatrist’s office, she believes she has found the right one.
Director:
Simo Halinen
Starring:
Leea Klemola
Peter Franzén
Ria Kataja
Emmi Nivala
The film was awarded the Jussi Award for Best Screenplay and Best Leading Actress.
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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.
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