Samu Kuukka

With the Soviet Union’s dissolution dragging down the economy of neighboring Finland, the Scandinavian country was plunged in a period of protracted recession. And with no recovery in sight, a soap opera offered Finns a respite from the grim reality; the debut of The Bold and the Beautiful on television quickly amassed a vast and dedicated following, whereas the arrival of American idols in the country, on tour, elicited unprecedented frenzy.

Sibiry Konate, a contemporary dance choreographer of African descent who wants to bring balance to an unbalanced world, seeks connection and meaning between and torn between his old and new home countries. So he decides to give a valuable gift to his village in Africa.

As she keeps watching old home movies isolated in her hotel room, the screen becomes a mirror from which she tries to see herself. Levels of subjectivity, narrative, and reality entwine into a surrealist fever dream of scopophilic cinéma pur. The final layer of meaning is all of us watching the film on the screen-mirror in the theatre.

Sakari and Veera get engaged, madly in love. Not long after, Veera asks Sakari to help her in a matter relating to her father, and in a way that completely shocks Sakari. He does everything in his power to stop her from pursuing her plan. But before the story is over, Sakari will be been forced to make choices he thought he'd never have to face.

A choir of tired nurses sing to Anna-Mari Kähärä’s hypnotic tunes about the truths of everyday nursing work in a musical documentary directed by Susanna Helke and co-scripted by Helke and Markku Heikkinen. DocPoint’s opening film is new in its format, and jolting in its message. It is a cinematic-musical work of activism, calling for more humane work, life and old age.

The Kind Stranger is a moving, at times comical film about the ASMR community, whose members try to ease each other’s pain by making youtube videos of tender care, quiet whispers and close up attention. We see the many hours of work that “ASMR artists” put into making their videos – and their presence and sincerity. In the age of anxiety, ASMR aspires to fulfill our ancient, primal needs. We are all a bit broken, but human beings are incredibly inventive when it comes to finding ways to reach out to our kind.

How to Fix the World? is a comprehensive and informative documentary about direct action in the 1990s and 2000s, directed by Jouko Aaltonen. In the documentary, anarchists, climate activists, and squatters openly describe their experiences and link them to mainstream phenomena in society. A wide range of archive material sheds a light on the history of direct action and activism in the Finnish society.