Pekka Uotila

For the first time in its history, Finland became an autonomous state when it broke away from a crumbling Russian empire in 1917. Witnessing the upheaval of the First World War and all too aware of the threat posed both outside and within its borders, the newly installed government initiated harsh and draconian policies for its younger generation. All children and youths were drilled in the importance of discipline, rectitude and nationalism. With no exceptions.

The Echoes of the Universe – The Music of Kaija Saariaho follows the completion and performances of Saariaho’s works in different parts of the world, but also highlights the mutual cooperation of her family.

A documentary film about Martta Koskinen, the last executed woman in Finland during the war in 1943. Martta was a Seamstress who lived in Helsinki during the Second World War. She was one of the post-civil war (in 1918) generation for whom the war had meant a disappointment in the system and failure in unity of the Finnish nation. The legacy of the civil war had left systems of persecution in place for those with socialist ideals. Martta and her fellow revolutionaries were determined to continue the resistance movement although they knew that at worst it could cost their lives. Martta was imprisoned twice before she was shot. She was an idealist, whose seemingly harmless, naive beliefs in peace and justice were the most dangerous traits a person could have at the time.

"Himmlers Kantele Player" - about Finnish student, who decides to leave University of Sorbonne and walk from Paris to Helsinki in the spring of 1935. On his way, in Germany, he meets Heinrich Himmler, who is attracted by a traditional Finnish instrument, kantele. Himmler employs Yrjö as researcher to the Ahnenerbe institute to find the Aryan roots from the runic singing culture of Finnish Carelia.

Director Sonja Lindén's personal and sensitive quest to the core of the modern information society where technology and human beings get more and more entwined. This documentary explores our society on the verge of turning ubiquitous - a wireless society, where the laws of time, space and distance are revolutionizing the concept of liaison. Do the consequences of the technological revolution increase our freedom, or do they limit us? Is it possible to find a balance between one's natural rhythm and the society that spins at an ever increasing and demanding speed? Are we chasing echoes of our lost inner wholeness in our everyday lives, which are becoming busier and more fragmented than ever before?

During the Continuation War, there were dozens of POW camps in Finland. About the third of 70,000 prisoners died during the first year of war. Most of the archives of the camps were destroyed and the majority of the war crimes were never revealed.

A film about memory, identity and the overwhelming power of love. One-year-old Devi was found starving at a railway station in Delhi. The police took her to Palna, an orphanage, where she lived for a year. When Devi learned to talk she often wanted to talk about Amma, her first mother. In the film, the 6-year-old Devi journeys to her own past, as her family adopts another daughter from Palna, a baby sister for Devi.

25-year-old Karri is stuck with his life: days at a job as a guard at a shopping mall, nights out with his friends. Then Karri meets Caasha, a Somali girl about his age.

An ordinary suburban family is shattered when their youngest son is killed in an accidental fire while locked inside the family's car on their yard. Mother Marja can't stop crying, father Jaakko can't cry at all but blames himself for the fire. Their remaining son Timo develops problems at school because of his constant worries about his parents' safety. In their grief, Marja and her sister Leena have to confront an old family secret, their little sister's accidental death for which Leena has quietly blamed herself through decades.

A story of how the world changes when dissatisfaction appears.

Pete loses his consciousness while playing in a pop band. The diagnosis is harsh and the doctor cannot say for sure whether Pete will celebrate his 18th birthday. One night, encouraged by the vodka on Jusa's 18th birthday, Pete confesses his love to Kata, his dream girl. Together with Jusa, they go to Lapland where Kata has her summer job. In Jusa's wild company, Pete experiences something which he never felt before as they decide to take a trip to Mombasa via Lapland.

Middle-aged Maire's husband spends most of his time abroad on business. Alone in their large house, Maire fills her empty life by absorbing other people's tragedies from tabloid newspapers. Obsessed by the story about a young single mother whose husband was killed and the killer got away with it, she befriends the young widow who would rather forget the whole event and go on with her life.

Grandmother returns from the grave to haunt her family.

The colonel's wife's tin pints need to be cleaned up, and Sergeant First Class Körmy tasks two privates to do so.

Некрасивая Ирис работает на спичечной фабрике. Все деньги она отдает матери и отчиму, и ее единственным развлечением является местная дискотека, где ее никто не приглашает танцевать. Лишь однажды она делает попытку разорвать этот порочный круг — покупает розовое платье, знакомится с мужчиной и проводит с ним ночь, но все завершается беременностью и лишь новой цепью унижений и оскорблений. После этого терпение Ирис лопается и она хладнокровно и жестоко мстит всем своим обидчикам.

Фильм посвящен финским солдатам, сражавшимся в "Зимней войне" и оборонявших линию Манергейма. Литературный классик Антти Туури, сочинивший сюжет для фильма «Зимняя война», не прогадал. Режиссер Пекки Парикк снял батальный эпос о событиях зимней войны 39-40 годов. Фильм вышел на экраны в 1989-м, и по сути стал самым кассовым финским фильмом года. Будет любопытен любителям исторических фильмов про войну, особенно интересен взгляд "с другой стороны".

The very first American-style Post Office robbery in Finland. In the midst of the 60's a gangster quartet led by Hilarius Ruokonen splits up and go into hiding after the heist.