Leo Jokela

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.

For six hundred years Sweden had controlled most of Finland until the war with Russia that ended in 1809, when Finland became a Grand Duchy of the Russian Czar. This period drama is set during that early 19th-century war and focuses on one of its heroes, Sven Tuuva. Sven is a decent yet not too brilliant soldier, and his exploits are partly balanced here by the charms of a compatriot.

A film that pushes every stereotype imaginable about Finland, and then some. Indeed, coming in the same year as Finland’s 50th anniversary, the film’s whole premise is about presenting Finland in hilarious fashion to foreigners and perhaps also making fun of some of the myths of Finnish culture for Finns themselves.

Jalmar Riivatsalo works in an ad agency and tries to find success both in love and business.

An archaeological team unearths a body of a young woman, who was told to be a witch buried in the bog some 300 years ago. Soon a naked woman appears and drives the men of the village crazy...

A closed room mystery begins when an infamous tycoon is found dead in his bath tub. The famous police lieutenant Palmu is summoned to investigate.

A man dreaming of becoming a private detective gets suck into an investigation of a crime involving the theft of a secret chemical formula.

A little orphan boy is the focus of attention, as well as his stepmother whose special qualities engender a certain mystery around her person – and hint at magical powers.

The everyday life of the small village is mixed when a fire breaks out the night after the party. The cooperative manager and fire manager alerts the young judge Heiki to the extinguishing work, but due to the confusion, extinguishing the fire turns out to be more complicated than expected.

A 3rd remake of the film based on the play by Teuvo Pakkala. Tells the story of the lumberjack group and how the lives of villagers and lumberjacks intertwine. Many loving couples are formed between jacks and village girls. At the same time, the farm of Pietola and the house matron, Katri is coveted by malicious Rättäri. He owns the IOU papers for Pietola and tries to get Katri using the IOU as blackmail.

A TV reporter is murdered when he is eavesdropping on a secret Finnish-Soviet conference. The National Broadcasting Corporation enlists the help of police lieutenant Palmu, who comes out of retirement for this case. However, some have their doubts about the loyalities of Palmu, seeing that he was spotted in a diplomatic soiree in Moscow just a few weeks before the murder.

Poor service station workers Jaakko and Timo think they have won the lottery jackpot. The men are already making big plans when it turns out that the prize is actually worthless. Posing as American oil millionaires, the men get caught up in a web of deception.

Two Finnish PI:s are hunted by a gang specialized to counterfeit banknotes from Malaga to Finland and Mallorca and back. The counterfeit money printing plates are desperately searched by the gang and our heroes try to hide from them by travelling to Mallorca, where some of the local hoods try to kill them and retake the missing plates.

The unlucky layabout Isarkar Keturi brings a criminal gang to heel with the help of his assistant Mikael. He frees Irma, the daughter of mining magnate Tömstet, from captivity and a forced marriage to Kurt. Irma achieves her dream of becoming a pop star, with Isaskar's help.

Pave, Hese, Timppa, and Viiksi have ended up in Hell, where the heat makes them feel as comfortable as in a sauna. The bosses there don't like this, so they send the boys on vacation to their home country, Finland. They are given a briefcase full of money to live a life of luxury. The only condition is that they are not allowed to do honest work, and to make matters worse, they are told that alcohol will not go to their heads.

A Western comedy about the adventures of Tundra-Tauno in Pohjola and in the village of Utopila which ruled by a greedy mayor.

Pirkko Mannola and Esko Salminen play young pop stars of the same name, who develop a secret romance that is kept hidden from the other musicians in the pop orchestra. Between musical scenes, Pirkko introduces Esko to Ville Salminen, Toivo Kärki, and Reino Helismaa, among others, and gets him a spot in a big pop music show.

A man's body is found on Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki. Palmu starts to investigate the case, but the scandalous newspaper story causes problems for the police.

Pete and Runt misinterpret the messages of a career choice machine and try to create a career as African dancers.

The life of First Lieutenant Heikki Lilja, who is dating Colonel Taipale's daughter Tiina, is turned upside down when his company is ordered to search for the dangerous escaped convict Kahle-Kustaa. Things are complicated by Lilja's friend, the artist Paaso, and Paaso's admirer Merja Metsä, Lilja's strict superior Colonel Taipale, and Police Chief Mäkinen.