Genre: documentary

Published: January 3, 2025

Lost Boys

A raw, unflinching true story of sex, drugs, and death reveals what happened a decade after the groundbreaking premiere of Reindeerspotting, a film that captured the lives of drug users in Rovaniemi. The friends, who once seemed untouchable and immortal in their endless celebrations, were confronted by harsh mortality. The party comes to a brutal end when Joonas’s friends disappear, and Jani meets a violent death in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

In Lost Boys, Joonas’s camera takes the viewer into the chaotic noise of Bangkok, the shadowy alleys of Phnom Penh, and the final weeks of Jani’s life. It captures the desperate search that followed his disappearance and death. What happened to those who went missing?

Published: December 30, 2024

Sel8nne

Sel8nne is a documentary film directed by JP Siili about Teemu Selänne – the greatest Finnish ice hockey player of all time. Selänne’s heroic story has been followed for over two decades and is well-known to the public, but now viewers get an intimate glimpse into Selänne’s personality. In the documentary, Teemu allows the audience to see beneath the surface. The film takes a journey from Selänne’s childhood years to his final NHL season. The extraordinary life story is revealed in depth, not only through Teemu’s own words but also through the perspectives of his loved ones and colleagues. Selänne is charismatic, social, annoying, radiant, cheerful, and always late. Welcome to Teemu’s life!

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

Published: December 30, 2024

Sotalapset

A documentary about Finnish children who were evacuated to Sweden during World War II.

Jukka Nykänen was awarded the Best Editing Jussi Award, and Erja Dammert received the Best Documentary Film Jussi Award.

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

Published: December 23, 2024

Daavid – tarinoita kunniasta ja häpeästä

David – Stories of Honor and Shame is a documentary film about the dramatic experiences of Finnish Jews during World War II. It explores the pressures of their dual identity during the Continuation War, when Finland fought as an ally of Germany. The film delves into the stories of Jewish soldiers on the front lines, political negotiations with the Nazis over the deportation of Finnish Jews, and the reasons why Finland became an exception in the history of the Holocaust.

The documentary is built on personal accounts of Finnish Jews and previously unpublished archival material. It highlights individual stories and offers a human perspective on challenging and still-relevant topics, sparking reflection and discussion among viewers.

Published: December 23, 2024

Atomin paluu

Mika Taanila and Jussi Eerola’s documentary Return of the Atom follows the creation process of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant unit, which turned into a massive construction farce, over nearly a decade. The film portrays the municipality of Eurajoki as the focal point of the global nuclear renaissance. Drawing on a variety of voices and situational humor, Return of the Atom depicts life in this nuclear power town of 6,000 residents, giving a platform to both advocates and opponents of nuclear energy. (Source: B-Plan Distribution)

The film won the Jussi Award for Best Music.

Note: No DVD or Blu-ray copies available.

Published: December 23, 2024

Lentäjien sotaa

The War of Pilots is a documentary film about the wartime efforts of Finnish pilots. It began with rudimentary planes derided as “flying looms,” progressed to dogfights in clumsy Fokkers, and reached the celebrated “Pearls of the Sky” Brewsters, which made an impression with their mere sound. The nimble Blenheim bomber, a marvel of the Winter War, aged into a museum piece during the war years. Yet even it, nicknamed “Tin Heikki,” was sent into the Lapland War against German anti-aircraft defenses.

Let’s not forget the mechanics who serviced the planes under tarps in -40°C weather, pumping fuel from barrels through lambskin chamois filters.

Published: December 23, 2024

Punapanssarit ja poltettu kylä, Punapanssarit Suomen sodissa ja rauhassa

Two Documentaries About Wartime Finland, available in DVD.

Burned Village – Three Stories of War and Reconciliation:
Burned Village tells the personal stories of Hilja Kuosku and Tyyne Martikainen from Savukoski and Hemmi Seppänen from Suomussalmi, based on their experiences with Soviet partisans during the Winter War and Continuation War in the villages along Finland’s northern eastern border. For decades, these stories were either voluntarily silenced or suppressed by the state. In recent years, these experiences have begun to be documented, shedding light on the trauma people endured during the war. Efforts have also been made to understand why the Soviet Union conducted such brutal partisan operations in Finland.

Red Tanks in Finland’s Wars and Peace:
Red Tanks is a story of the Soviet tanks familiar to Finnish war veterans. These tanks were used against Finnish forces on the frontlines but, through war spoils, significant numbers were also repurposed for Finnish use. The story of Soviet tanks did not end with the peace treaty; their use continued for many years in “peaceful tasks.” In the program, war veterans and postwar tank operators share their experiences from the battlefields and tank training during the postwar period in the Soviet Union.

Published: December 23, 2024

Rusinoita pullassa: Vihreät sisaret sotilaskotityössä vuodesta 1918

The Green Sisters have been serving in military canteens since 1918. Every Finnish conscript and veteran of the last wars appreciates the military canteen, whose over 90-year history is now, for the first time, brought to a wider audience in the form of a video documentary. In the documentary, about ten sisters who served during the Winter and Continuation Wars recall their experiences and anecdotes from their work with military canteens during both wartime and peacetime.

Regarding the wartime years, the documentary sheds light on a rarely discussed topic: women in active war zones. Few people know that the Military Canteen Organization is the oldest continuously operating national defense organization in Finland. Military canteen sisters contribute nearly 200,000 hours of voluntary work annually to support conscripts, bringing warmth and comfort to garrisons, camps, and military exercises.

While comparing wartime and peacetime military canteen work is challenging, the friendly smile of a sister behind the counter and the scent of freshly baked buns and coffee have remained unchanged since the founding of the military canteen.

Published: September 10, 2024

Every Tom, Dick and Urpo

The letter, received by the Finnish National Radio’s phone-in program, hopes that in this era of Metoo and many other well-meaning campaigns, attention will be drawn to an unpleasant phenomenon, the use of the name “Urpo” as a synonym for idiot.

In this warm-hearted and humorous documentary, four men all called Urpo gather to reflect on the meaning and impact of their name in their lives. Will the use of Urpo still be decent in 2023? (Napafilms, 2023)

Note: The documentary is only available for viewing on Yle Areena, no physical copies are distributed.

Published: September 10, 2024

Strangers in the Dar

In this experimental short documentary, light pollution turns a glowworm’s love life into a nightmare. The film follows the glowworm’s struggle to find a mate in an environment where it’s no longer dark at night. The story of light and darkness unfolds on various levels, from the planetary to the microscopic, from the peace of nature to the pulse of urban life, and from artificial light to the green glow of the glowworm’s tail. Directed by Perttu Inkilä & Jenni Pystynen. (Source: Illume Oy, 2023)

Note: The documentary is only available for viewing on Yle Areena, no physical copies are distributed.