Mauri Jaakkola

The life story of Aleksis Kivi, author of the first Finnish novel in Finnish language and (posthumously) its most successful writer.

Young woman flies to Lapland together with her father and his new female friend whom the daughter dislikes. On a lonely skiing-trip across the vast wilderness, the young lady ends up in a shack inhabited by two research engineers and a funny old Lapland man who sees peculiar dreams.

Aging professor of mathematics completes his life's work, a research project that has taken him decades, and climbs up from the boiler room (his study) and back to real life. He can hardly recognize his rebellious teenage kids and materialistic wife who hardly seem to notice his existence. The only person who is interested in the professor's work is Marja, his son's girlfriend and freshman at the university. An innocent infatuation flares up between the old man and the young girl, while the professor's family is only interested in the prize money awarded to the professor by an international jury for his academic achievements.

The title of the Finnish film Elokuu translates to August. Directed by Matti Kassila, one of Finland's premiere filmmakers, Elokuu was adapted from a novel by Nobel prize winning finnish author F.E. Sillanpää. Simply put, the story concerns the decline and fall of a once-proud family, thanks to the alcoholism of its paterfamilias. Toivo Makela delivers a powerfully effective performance as the inebriated protagonist, avoiding the usual "drunken" cliches. The overlong running time, coupled with the downbeat nature of the subject, limited the film's worldwide appeal.

A story about the life of Eero, a machine shop worker, and his younger brother Martin in the working-class neighborhoods of Helsinki, and the change brought about by a conductor and his daughter who move in next door.

A former Red Rebellion leader returns home after being imprisoned for his participation in the Finnish Civil War, but soon finds out that wartime mindsets still linger in the heads of people.

Jussi Koskela clears a plot of land for his family in the village of Pentinkulma in southern Häme. His son Akseli joins the Red Guard and takes part in the Civil War of 1918, at the end of which he is imprisoned. After his release, Akseli returns to Pentinkulma and tries to raise his family with his wife Elina, as well as acquire more land for his croft in a politically hostile environment. The Winter War and Continuation War take a heavy toll on the Koskela family, but despite this, life goes on.

A story of an escaped convict and some funny side stories during the Finnish summer, some stolen clothes and some summer romance thrown in.