Pekka Karjalainen

Ice Skater

A survival drama about an ice skater stranded on an ice floe at the Arctic Sea. When the ice floe starts to float towards south and melt, the ice skater must use all means necessary to survive.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Young Pietari lives with his reindeer-herding father in arctic Finland. On the eve of Christmas, a nearby excavation makes a frightening discovery and an evil Santa Claus is unleashed…

Brytbussen

Letters to Angel

Jeremia Juunas Kirotaja has been fighting in Afghanistan; 21 years later he returns to Estonia to his father's funeral. He has converted to Islam and his only connection to his native land is the sound of his daughter Angel's crying that he heard a long time ago on the phone. Jeremia starts to search for his family. The daily life - if this can be called life in the first place - of the dusty and abandoned town is being run by women since men are almost gone. Nevertheless, the women seem to hope that Jeremia will be able to do something about it in order to remove the paralyzing feeling of emptiness.

Hustlers

The director Lauri Nurkse tells that Veijarit is a film about "arjensietokyvyttömyys" (= inability to tolerate everyday life) and about the Peter Pan complex. The main actor Mikko Leppilampi says it's about "kolkyttoistavuotiaat" (= thirtyeenagers = people of thirty behaving like teenagers). An immediate reference point is the commedia all'italiana of the 1950s and the 1960s, the black comedy often exposing the infantile stage of development of the Italian male. Saku and Ässä are anti-heroes, but we never fail to sense the humanity behind their shallow and crazy ways. Veijarit is a satire and a parody of a superficial way of life, but there is a vitality in the protagonists that we feel can lead them to a more meaningful stage of existence after the prolonged youth full of sound and fury. There is a motif of transcendence in the imagery of flying: will the balloons carry me or will they burst.

Finders of the Lost Yacht

Pertsa and Kilu are two neighbour boys with different backgrounds. They live adventurous life of a young imaginary mind in small harbour town. Accidentally they get involved in a bank robbery. Through their own investigation of the case, imagination and real danger gets mixed and leads to great adventure where friendship and courage is on stake.

Mole's Treasure

A small mole is looking for a fallen star in the night forest where everyone else seem to have already found their own treasures.

Me and Morrison

A bittersweet tale of a love affair between two people whose lives seem to have lost all direction. The female lead, Milla, is drifting aimlessly through life until she meets Aki. They fall in love - but happiness in a relationship shadowed by crime and drugs is not necessarily a given. The movie is based on the novel Minä ja Morrison by first-time author Kata Kärkkäinen

A Shout into the Wind

The fate of a culture lies on the shoulders of few determined individuals.

The Tough Ones

The Tough Ones tells a story of two friends who have a hard time finding their place in the society. Antti and Jussi are released from jail. While they were doing time for bank robbery, the third man involved in the robbery, the one who was not convicted, has become a policeman. He tries to help his friends to settle into the small town in Pohjanmaa, but the boys start a black market liquor business instead. The road seems to lead back to the jail.

Hysteria

A rock ‘n’ roll road movie, an absurd comedy and a modern love story between the Finn Sam and the Estonian Mari taking place in the newly independent, poetically nightmarish Baltic countries.

Valo

A story about clever and courageous children who decide to start their own school in the small village of Viiritsa. The children teach each other. It is the early 20th century. The children are led by 9-year-old Valo, who, together with his friend Ville and the other children in the village, teaches the village children to read and write. But not all adults approve of the children's initiative.

Flocks

Valeria, an Afro-Finnish soccer player, becomes her team's new captain, dealing with pressure and conflicting emotions from others' expectations. Aurora, a non-binary worker, seeks their place but feels invisible. Nora looks for love but feels that she is only seen through her dark skin and curly hair. Rascist comments make her doubt her new crush's intentions. Selma gets trapped in tunnels during choir practice, confronting her fears in the darkness. Piera Niillas, a Saami activist, fights for a society free from oppression. The Quiet Man reflects on the diverse experiences of city life. The multi-story Flocks portrays minority experiences in contemporary Finland, touching on belonging, rejection, acceptance, and the complexities of Finnish identity and relationships. This fictional film sheds light on marginalized voices and societal issues, immersing characters and viewers in tense social realities.

Vääpeli Körmy ja etelän hetelmät

The Minister of Defence asks sergeant Körmy to take part in operation, where the United States and Russia are to hand over their nuclear weapons launch equipment and codes to neutral Finland.

Purge

Aliide experienced The Great Terror under Stalin’s regime, and decades after her hometown people were deported to Siberia, she lives alone in an isolated house. One night, she finds a young woman in her yard – Zara has just escaped from the claws of the Russian mafia that held her as a sex slave. Survivors both, Aliide and Zara engage in unearthing each other’s motives and gradually their stories merge into one, revealing the tragedy of a family during the cruelest years in Estonian history.

Umur

Umur tells a love story strongly connected to the nature of Lapland, in which Poika, a young border guard played with sensitivity by Heikki Rantanen, falls passionately in love with the mysterious Lapland beauty Umuri.

An Eye for an Eye

Sisters Kiia and Eija moved away from the village of Pirunperä in Kainuu after their father committed suicide. Kiia has become a sculptor and is plagued by nightmares related to her home village. Kiia returns to her hometown to create sculptures for the local church. At the same time, she investigates her father's and her hometown's past.

Long Good Thursday

While on a shopping trip, Grump smells Saimi, a woman who smells just right and throws the whole man in a state of confusion. The Grump would not have believed that his chest could still feel like a young boy's. The Grump has to admit that he enjoys Saimi’s company. The words, looks, and touch of another awaken long-forgotten feelings. The Grump’s sons are incredulous and downright jealous of their father, and they don’t want to trust Saimi’s sincerity… could she be after the inheritance? Family meetings, misunderstandings, moonlight swims, and sleepless nights. Indeed, Cupid's arrow can pierce even an old man's flannel shirt.

Meanwhile

27-year-old Mona works alone at a remote grill, studies again for the upcoming entrance exams and endlessly misses her spouse Helga, who is on a business trip. A new employee starts at the grill, 19-year-old lively and unbalanced Leo, who in all his likability makes Mona miss her past.

The Grump: In Search of an Escort

Grump's life follows the same familiar routines: spring is here and the early potato harvest is ripening. But Grump crashes his beloved Ford Escort and the car has to be scrapped. A new, modern vehicle is no match for quality and the nearest Escort, a 1972 model, can be found in Germany. When the Grumps's sons refuse to help, he must travel to Germany alone.

Vääpeli Körmy – taisteluni

Relations between Sweden and Finland come to near breaking point. When further negotiations led by President Mara fail, Sergeant Körmy interferes in the course of events.

Freakin' Beautiful World

The Helsinki-based teenagers Ippe, Papu and Mia have become entangled in drug circles. Their problems get even worse when violent dealer Kalle starts blackmailing the indebted Ippe.

Just Married

On a dark night, a man sees a wrecked car on the side of the road, inside which a young woman is dying. The woman asks for the strangest last favor.

A City Symphony

The Helsinki of the 1990s, longed for by many, comes to life in Heikki Ahola's City Symphony. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, this classic montage film offers a unique glimpse into the pulsating life of the capital at all hours of the day. More than 30 young filmmakers worked on the documentary. Filmed between September 1993 and February 1995, City Symphony encounters the contrasting spirits of Helsinki – including unemployment and luxury, homeliness and internationalism. As the title suggests, music plays a central role in the film, with Tuomas Kantelinen responsible for the score. You won't find a more comprehensive journey through 1990s Helsinki than Kaupunkisinfonia. The world just before the breakthrough of the internet and the economic boom already looks very different.