Level: high schools and vocational schools

Published: March 30, 2023

Sokkotanssi

In the movie Sokkotanssi (Trans. Blind Dance), the 60s are lived in a small Finnish town by the sea. Another of the main actors is a boy named Jontti. He is a very curious child who finds out about his father’s secret relationship with another woman. Jontti’s best friend from the neighborhood is Länki, who misses his father who lives out of reach. These aspects of life put a lot of pressure on the boys’ minds, which makes them do all kinds of naughtiness.

The film has well-known Finnish actors. Jontti’s father is Martti Suoaho, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius plays a barber and Vesa-Matti Loiri plays an alcoholic citizen in a small supporting role. Movie uses subtle humor, but also drama.

The film won the Jussi award for best screenplay.

Koulukino’s learning material is aimed at secondary and middle school studies. The tasks include tips for processing the film, tasks on film analysis, film timeline, pranks, dramaturgy, and the director Matti Ijäs. The educational material for this film is also available in Swedish.

Published: March 30, 2023

Olavi Virta

Olavi Virta tells the story of one of the most famous Finnish male singers of all time. His career dates back to Finland’s post-war era, and with the help of his music, Finns forgot their sorrows by dancing, partying, dreaming, and loving.

As Olavi’s career rose, the temptations of success came with it, such as alcohol and side relationships, and he did not manage to avoid them. Although the family stayed by Olavi’s side for a long time, in the end, nothing made the family stay by his side, despite his requests and promises.

Koulukino’s learning material is aimed at secondary school studies and high schools. The tasks consist of interpreting the interview video, information search and analysis tasks, and tips on places to visit which are made to honor Olavi Virta.

Published: March 30, 2023

Lady Time

The documentary tells the story of Sirkka-Liisa Miettinen, who died at the age of 98 in Helsinki’s Kisakylä and had no relatives. Elina Talvensaari, who is the director of the film, was inspired to make that film when she bought Sirkka-Liisa’s apartment by chance. The apartment came with all of Sirkka-Liisa’s personal belongings, down to the smallest item. The director did not want to put the items directly into the disposal, because then even the last grains of information about Sirkka-Liisa would have been lost. Elina wanted to remember Sirkka-Liisa, so the idea for Lady Time came from this.

The educational material of Koulukino tells more about the background of the film, deals with storytelling, objects and emotions, the story of an ordinary person, and what is private and public. The learning material is aimed at secondary school studies.

Published: March 28, 2023

Härmä

Härmä is about 19th-century “knife junkies” (Orig. puukkojunkkarit) in Ostrobothnia, Finland. One family’s farm is about to be inherited by Esko, the eldest of the brothers, but the father decides against strong traditions to bequeath the farm to the firstborn and give it to Matti. This causes a quarrel between the brothers. Matti is secretly engaged to the woman next door, Aino, and Esko starts chasing her too as his own.

Koulukino’s educational material deals with the division of inheritance, Finnish “knife junkies”, and the history of the time depicted in the film. The learning material is aimed at middle schools and secondary education.

Published: March 28, 2023

Tolkien

“Tolkien,” tells the inspiring story of one of the most famous writers of our time, J.R.R. Tolkien. The film tells, among other things, about his orphanhood, his studies among love, friends, linguists, and artists, and his time as a young British officer in the middle of the First World War. Tolkien’s experiences have ultimately shaped him into the writer we know him to be.

Koulukino’s educational material deals with film production, a biographical film, growing up to be a writer, friendships, and studying and researching languages. The learning material is aimed at middle schools and secondary education.

Published: March 28, 2023

Ad Astra

Humanity is threatened by strange attacks that come from space. Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pritt) goes deep into space to find the reason for the attacks and at the same time to find his father who disappeared decades ago. On his way, Roy faces an unprecedented threat.

Koulukino’s learning material deals with polyphony, language methods for creating a personal image, information search, writing, analysis tasks, and philosophy discussion tasks. The learning material is aimed at secondary school studies.

Published: March 27, 2023

Life of Pi

The film is a survival drama about a young Indian man and a tiger, based on Yann Martel’s bestselling novel Life of Pi. It all starts with a Japanese cargo ship that gets into trouble at sea. Everyone else perishes except Pi, the zebra, the hyena, the orangutan, and the Bengal tiger named “Richard Parker”, so Pi’s survival doesn’t seem easy.

The film was awarded four Oscars: best direction, cinematography, soundtrack, and visual effects.

The educational material of Koulukino deals with excerpts from the book and scenes from the film, the illusion of the film, and the depiction of time through the means of film. The material is aimed at high, vocational, and middle schools.

Published: March 27, 2023

Eddie the Eagle

The adventure comedy tells the story of Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, known even to Finns, a British hill jumper who never stopped believing in himself. Even the British people lost faith in him, but with the help of his coach, he eventually managed to gather a large international fan base for himself at the 1988 Winter Olympics, where Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen won three Olympic gold medals.

Koulukino’s learning material deals with success, struggle, dreams, the meaning of small words and actions, movie characters, and sports heroes. The material is aimed at middle schools and upper secondary schools as well as other secondary educational institutions.

Published: March 27, 2023

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Christian Bale plays Moses in the biblical story depicted with modern film effects. Moses and his brother Ramses defend Egypt, led by their father Seti. In the middle of the battle, Moses saves the life of his brother Ramses. This frightens Ramses, because a prophecy has been made about Moses and because of it he is banished. As a result, Moses rises against his brother and flees the plagues that have just begun, leading 600,000 slaves in the process.

Published: March 24, 2023

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody is based on the legendary band Queens and more specifically on its singer, Freddie Mercury. The film contains excerpts from real events.

The film tells how the band rose to fame. However, the singer’s life quickly goes downhill and in the end, in the worst misfortune of all, Freddie is diagnosed with AIDS. Despite his illness, he wants to once again pull off an all-time show at the Live Aid concert in Britain’s Wembley arena.

The film won a whopping four Oscars in the following categories: best actor, video editing, sound editing, and sound mixing.

Koulukino’s educational materials deal with Queen’s music, health, AIDS, HIV, life management, sexuality, culture, minorities, immigration, own roots, writing a film review and equivalent, writing Finnish words from English, and analyzing Finnish versions of songs. The last task is a debate exercise.