Sami Keski-Vähälä
Writing
Known For

An underdog challenges an unbeatable champion of motorcycle Grand Prix championships series in the early 70s, a time when even an amateur could win, but only by seriously risking his life on the track.
Last to Break

Canned Dreams shows the multi-branching network of the modern food industry. The Finnish consumer buys a can in the grocery store, but where from far away do the raw materials and packaging materials for the preserves come from - and through how many hands? The film not only traces the various stages of the production process, but gives a voice to the people who work as part of it.
Canned Dreams

Finland in the 50s saw a time where boats from all over the world docked in the harbor city of Kotka. In addition to transporting goods, the sailors brought with them another import: jazz, swing and blues. A tale of music-loving, fearless and passionate young men decide to open Fennia, a jazz bar. Soon Fennia achieves legendary status and the men; the Harbour Brothers, play their music and hold court like emperors.
Harbour Brothers

A father who was absent for 30 years of his son's life returns and wants to set on a journey through Finland, so they can learn to know each other again.
Road North

Jill and Joy (both 9) live in their own house like any other little girls, except that they might be a little happier than most little girls, as they get to live in their own house specifically designed for the two. One December evening a small car, barely the size of a shoebox, pulls up in front their house, and a teensy-weensy family gets out; it's the McTiny family. The family has become homeless after a road roller smashed their home. Planning to live with the girls temporarily, the family moves in with Jill and Joy but soon finds out that not all big people have good intentions towards them. Jill and Joy's Winter is based on a beloved book by the same name, written by a Finnish writer named Marjatta Kurenniemi.
Jill and Joy's Winter

Documentary on the history of Ryhmäteatteri theatre company.
Ryhmäteatteri

Three brothers from three different mothers meet for the first time since years for their mutual father’s 70th birthday: nihilistic writer Ivar, failed film producer Mitja, and resentful caretaker Torsti.
Brothers

The story recounts the breakup of a thirty-something professional couple - Juhani, a family therapist, and his wife, Tuula, a successful business trainer.
The House of Branching Love

A new orphanage opens near Jill and Joy's house, and a boy named Pekki runs away from there. Pekki ends up living in Jill and Joy's cabin and tells the girls how bleak life is in the orphanage under the strict command of the headmistress Minna Pinna.
Jill, Joy and the Mysterious Stranger

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.
Long Good Thursday

11-year-old Unna travels in time to the stone age with the help of a magic drum.
Unna and Nuuk

Tiina decides to reconnect with his aged and bohemian father living alone. With her reluctant daughter and new husband, they move in and start to renovate the old house. However, neither the renovation nor facing the past is effortless.
Homecoming

The three men enjoy the evening at a bar whose fate is threatened by pandemic restrictions. Bartender Heikki offers discussion help to his friend Risto, who works in the first line of healthcare, and who has just finished a difficult shift. The evening gets a new twist when a stranger looking for a mobile phone charger pops in and refuses to leave.
Gracious Night

Jill and Joy receive a mission from their neighbors Tingelstein and Tangelstein: the ladies send the girls to look after their absentminded inventor brother Gadgetus. Jill and Joy get to know the wonders of Gadgetus’s farm, but everything is at risk of being destroyed when Samuel Shortcut arrives on his bulldozer, ready to destroy everything so that a new highway can be built in the area. Jill and Joy save the farm with the help of a device invented by Gadgetus, but before that they have to get to know the world of dreams and find help from there. Armstrong, a miniature pig, also takes part in the adventure and helps Jill and Joy, along with the other people living in Rose Alley.
Jill, Joy and the Sleeping Clock

When two best friends Jill and Joy find a huge sum of money on the street on the first day of the summer holiday, they decide to buy a house from the mysterious Mrs. Rosebud. It’s a real dream house: measured and equipped exactly for two little seven-year-old girls’ requirements. Based on a beloved children’s book, Jill and Joy is a story of a dream summer without parents or boundaries. Anything can and will happen as reality and fantasy magically intertwine.
Jill and Joy

A short film about the close-minded but hopeful couple called Koistinen, who should just stay home instead of travelling.