Helsinki, Forever

The Year 1939

An exemplary reconstruction of a historical turning point. Time and again, the images and the remembered stories.

Sininen laulu - Suomen taiteiden tarina

Lauluja utopiasta

The story of Agit Prop, communist band established in 1970.

Drifting Clouds

The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they must hit the streets of Helsinki, facing up to hardship and humiliation in their quest for survival, guided through the gloom by a ray of hope.

A Day at Karl Marx's Grave

In a world of cold facts, this film speaking in more than 20 languages offers a vision of a world momentarily united and willing to listen to the human voice.

The Man Without a Past

Arriving in Helsinki, a nameless man is beaten within an inch of his life by thugs, miraculously recovering only to find that he has completely lost his memory. Back on the streets, he attempts to begin again from zero, befriending a moody dog and becoming besotted with a Salvation Army volunteer.

The Last Summer 1944

Aki and Peter

THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE is dedicated to filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki’s longtime friend and collaborator, the film critic and festival programmer Peter von Bagh. In this new video essay, filmmaker Daniel Raim explores Kaurismäki’s oeuvre through the world of von Bagh.

Pockpicket - Recollections of a Helsinki Bourgeois Youth

Recollections of a Helsinki Bourgeois

The Other Side of Hope

A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.

Temples of Dreams

Documentary about Finnish film theaters - about their past, disappearance and future. And at the same time universal story how cinema is undeniably connected with life.

I Hired a Contract Killer

After losing his job and realizing that he is alone in the world, a businessman opts to voluntarily end his life. Lacking courage, he hires a contract killer to do the job. Then, while awaiting his demise, he meets a woman and promptly falls in love.

Juha

A farmer's wife is seduced into running away from her stolid older husband by a city slicker, who enslaves her in a brothel.

When the Heavens Fall…

A psychotherapist's life is wrecked when her private life is exposed in a sensation magazine.

Sodankylä Forever

The Midnight Sun Film Festival is held every June in the Finnish village of Sodankylä beyond the arctic circle — where the sun never sets. Founded by Aki and Mika Kaurismäki along with Anssi Mänttäri and Peter von Bagh in 1985, the festival has played host to an international who’s who of directors and each day begins with a two-hour discussion. To mark the festival’s silver anniversary, festival director Peter von Bagh edited together highlights from these dialogues to create an epic four-part choral history of cinema drawn from the anecdotes, insights, and wisdom of his all-star cast: Coppola, Fuller, Forman, Chabrol, Corman, Demy, Kieslowski, Kiarostami, Varda, Oliveira, Erice, Rouch, Gilliam, Jancso — and 64 more. Ranging across innumerable topics (war, censorship, movie stars, formative influences, America, neorealism) these voices, many now passed away, engage in a personal dialogue across the years that’s by turns charming, profound, hilarious and moving.

Mondo Finlandia

An Italian mondo documentary about Finland. Among other things, it showcases intricacies of local mating culture, sports, Midsummer festivities and sauna.