Samu Heikkilä

In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles – from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.

When a schoolteacher is sacked, he projects his bad mood at his troubled teenage son. The son, in turn, buys a CD player from a pawnshop with counterfeit money. This starts a chain reaction of misery as every victim projects his problems on to another person.

Helsinki, 1945. The end of the war brings a new sense of artistic and social freedom for painter Tove Jansson. While focusing her artistic dreams on painting, the enchanting tales of the ‘Moomin’ creatures she told to scared children in bomb shelters, rapidly take on a life of their own, bringing international fame.

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

Amanda Aaltonen refuses to resign herself to the miserable fate of a poor woman and daringly seeks her happiness in the world. As punishment for breaking the rules, society deprives her of the most important thing of all, her freedom, and imprisons her on the island of Seili.

Best friends Mimmi and Rönkkö support each other unconditionally. They want to live adventurous lives, loaded with experiences and passion. Emma on the contrary has given her whole life to figure skating. Nothing gets between her and success. But when the girls meet, life opens whole new paths, and they all rocket in new directions. While Mimmi and Emma experience the earth moving effects of first love, Rönkkö is on a quest to find pleasure. Three Fridays is all it takes to turn their worlds upside down.

A night club bouncer gets disgusted of all the violence and repression of the weak he is seeing. He has to act to protect the victims.

Looking to outrun the horrors of his past, a tormented cabbie flees Helsinki for an apartment complex in the suburbs, only to discover that new neighbors bring new problems. What ensues is a raw, realistic tragedy with an unwaveringly humane core.

Seppo, a forestry machine driver, receives an email from a mysterious woman called Miss Zahra, telling him about her money problems. Although his close friends claim the letter is a hoax, Seppo decides to follow his love abroad and save his heart for the chosen one.

A celebrated violin player, Karin, has to end her stellar career after a car accident makes her fingers stop working their magic. She starts teaching students who are twenty years younger than her, only to find herself falling in love with Antti, one of her students. They are not an easy match, both being passionate about the music and overly ambitious about their careers.

The story of an overly protective and controlling father who suspects incest is taking place between his own son and daughter. These growing suspicions and concerns cause the father to become delusional and unrelenting in his quest to end the love affair between his children.

A teenage orphan girl Salome lives within a sect lead by charismatic and ruthless Maria Åkerblom. During a pivotal summer, Salome is faced with standing up against Maria, the woman who had saved her.

Therapist Leena and her soon-to-be ex-husband Pekka run a relationship camp in the midst of their own painful break-up. The participants are all very different: an actor who has lost himself and his memory, his spouse, a police officer who cannot let go of his loved one, and a couple whose open relationship is not quite as open as they think. Through surprising twists, painful encounters, and humor, the campers discover new perspectives on each other—and themselves. Perhaps not everything can be fixed, but there is still much to learn.

A young and ambitious civil servant Jussi finds himself being in charge of the environmental permit of a huge nickel and uranium mine in Northern Finland. The Talvivaara mine, led by a charismatic globe trotting visioner Pekka Perä is introducing an entirely new method of collecting minerals whilst creating jobs in one of the poorest areas in Scandinavia. Jussi slowly discovers that he has been led astray by several people and that the new method has serious downsides he did not forsee. The mine is causing environmental hazards that are being hushed down. A new application for another permit is brough to his table by the same mine. Along with the application comes an interesting job offer and a chance of a new beginning. Jussi has to decide whether he will play along and if so, with whom.

Juha is 38 years old and has three small children and a depressed wife. He sees himself as strong and believes a man should provide for his family. But one day Juha is fired from his job. Ashamed, he weaves a web of lies to hide the fact from his family. With the help of his friend Olli, Juha begins prostituting himself to support his wife and children. With this he makes in two hours what it took him two days to earn before. The shame and deception mushroom, but the pay from the new profession seems to offset the downside.

Tinke, who has been drinking his health away, lives in a care home, where his dark humour and his friend Veikko keeps him going. When Saimi's teenage twins, whom he vaguely remembers from years ago, decide to find out about their father, their search leads them to Tinke. Saimi is determined to prevent the twins from meeting Tinke, but Veikko, who has been caught up in the mess, disagrees.

Pekka Malmikunnas is a bankrupt, penniless man, who has convinced his family that he is still the CEO of a large IT company. Maintaining this façade in order to save face has become something of a full-time job for him. When Pekka’s parents unexpectedly come for a visit, he throws a lavish family dinner party in order to dispel any doubts. The soirée is a success until Pekka’s god-daughter gets run over by a car. The reckless driver becomes a mutual enemy for the family. The driver tries to atone for his actions, but the situation spirals out of control and Pekka attacks the man. Pekka realizes things have gone too far and decides to tell his family the truth. It does not hurt as much as Pekka thought, bringing the pieces of a once broken family back together.

With few options, newly pardoned convict Leila agrees to work as an assistant to a blind pastor. Father Jacob spends his days answering the letters of the needy, which Leila finds pointless. But when the letters stop, the pastor is devastated and Leila finds herself cast in a new role.

No description available.

Director Saija Mäki-Nevala was born in Kihniö but moved away as soon as it became possible. The village road with few buildings, and faces that were all to familiar to her, wasn’t enough. The real life and the possibilities of achieving dreams seemed to be somewhere else. After 18 years she goes back to look at Kihniö. She observes the ex-home village with feelings between love and foreignness. Is Kihniö more than its inhabitants? Is Kihniö just a name for the roots which we can’t either choose or forget? This observational documentary is a portrait of silent village, but the main role still belongs to its people. They are proud of living in a safe place where they all know each other. The most important goals in life are to have a permanent job and to own a house. When they achieve those things and can have their family around, everything is just fine. You don’t need anything else.