Subject: environmental studies

Published: May 11, 2023

Le Havre

A small African boy ends up in the French port city of Le Havre in a shipping container full of other refugees. The boy manages to escape and while hiding from the authorities, he meets a shoe polisher who wants to help the boy get to his destination: London to his mother. At the same time, the shoe polisher’s wife is diagnosed with a serious illness.

The film won a remarkable six Jussi awards: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

Published: May 11, 2023

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Puss in Boots returns when he realizes that he has already used up eight of the cats’ nine lives.

However, getting his lives back is unsafe because Puss in Boots has only one life left. He decides to ask his former opponent, Kitty Softpaw, for help. A Spanish dog, Perro, also joins him on his journey. To regain Puss in Boots’ lives, the trio must head towards the Black Forest and the Wishing Star.

The journey is challenged by Puss in Boots being chased by the bounty hunter Big Bad Wolf and the Three Bears Mafia, who are after the same Wishing Star.

Published: May 2, 2023

A Summer by the River (Kuningasjätkä)

A Summer by the River (Kuningasjätkä) takes place in Eastern Finland in the 1950s around the events of log swimming. The father in the story loses his wife – and only father and son remain. The father (Tenho) goes with his son (Simon) for the summer to prune trees, where the work and the workers are merciless. The film beautifully depicts Finland’s summer nature, and there is also a bit of love involved when Tenho finds a new interesting woman.

The film won a fantastic five Jussi awards in the following categories: Film of the Year, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Direction, and Best Screenplay.

Published: March 31, 2023

Beasts of the Southern Wild

The film is magical realism, where the main character is a 6-year-old girl named Hushpuppy. She lives with her father Wink in Bathtub, a dingy swamp in southern Louisiana, USA, where life is primitive and where people live in harmony with nature.

The commune of Bathtub is flooding because the continental ice is melting and this is causing the release of ancient beasts. Winki’s health is also deteriorating at the same time, so it’s time for 6-year-old Hushpuppy to face these challenges and survive them with honor.

Koulukino’s learning materials deal with magical realism, the Hushpuppy character, editing, and montage, and include film interpretation tasks. The materials are aimed at middle schools and secondary education.

Published: March 29, 2023

Super Furball

A young girl named Emilia gets superpowers from being bitten by her pet guinea pig, which come in handy when the herrings of the Baltic Sea rise up in rebellion to save the sea from pollution. The film is based on the book series “Emilia’s diaries” and more specifically on the book “Supermarsu saves the herrings”, written by Paula Noronen. The book in question was nominated for the Finlandia junior prize in 2009.

The educational material of the school cinema deals with superheroes, writing a diary, bullying at school, social relations in the class, the Baltic Sea and its species, and conservation. The learning material is aimed at primary schools and primary education.

Published: February 21, 2023

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters live in their own town, where they generate electricity for the town by scaring children. Monsters get to the children by going through dimension gates. The most famous monsters in scaring children are two monsters called Mike and Sullivan. One day they meet an extraordinary child who has accidentally got lost in monster town and find out that there is a much more effective way of generating electricity than scaring: making children laugh. The film’s topic of generating electricity is indeed very topical. A fun touch in the movie is that monster think children are toxic and dangerous, so that even touching them could be fatal.

The film has won an Oscar in 2002 for the best score for the song “If I Didn’t Have You”.

Published: February 21, 2023

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

When Primm’s family (Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy, Winslow Fegley) moves to New York City, their youngest son finds it difficult to adapt to the new school. Everything changes when he meets a singing crocodile (Shawn Mendes in the original) who lives in the attic of their new home and loves baths, caviar, and great music.

The two quickly become friends, but when existence is threatened by an evil neighbor, Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman), must family team up with Lyle crocodile’s charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem) to show that a family can also be made up of surprising members and that a person with a big personality, there is nothing wrong with a singing crocodile. (Source: SF Studios)

Published: February 20, 2023

Turilas ja Jäärä

Two bugs meet by chance and soon they become friends. They go together to look for food and end up on several adventures. At the same time, they make inventive use of discarded human objects.

Published: February 15, 2023

Strange World

Action-adventure The Wonderful World takes viewers deep into the depths of an unknown and dangerous world, where imaginative creatures await Clade, the legendary family of adventurers, whose internal disagreements threaten to derail their latest—and by far the most important—exploration. The Wonderful World is directed by Don Hall (Big Hero 6, Raya and the Last Dragon) with assistant director and writer Qui Nguyen (Raya and the Last Dragon co-writer) and produced by Roy Conli (Big Hero 6, Two on the Run). (Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Finland)

Published: February 2, 2023

Extinct

Op and Ed are Flummels, animals from ancient times, which belong to Mother Nature’s strangest quirks: in appearance, they resemble donuts covered in fur. Accompanied by chance, the wild Op and the suspicious Ed go on a time travel from their home, the Galápagos Islands of 1835, to the present-day metropolis, Shanghai.

In the bustle of the concrete jungle, they hear the terrible news – shortly after their departure, the flummels have disappeared from the face of the earth and the entire species has become extinct! Op and Ed are now the last of their race, and they must find a way to save the Flummels from certain destruction. A new acquaintance, a dashing little dog Clarence, offers to help them. (Source: Finnkino Oy)