
Arto Halonen
Directing
Known For

Every nation gets the heroes it deserves. A man with a special blood type is used as a device for human doping athletes skiing national team.
A Patriotic Man

Copenhagen, Denmark, 1951. Criminal investigator Anders Olsen follows the case of a bank robber who eyewitnesses say appears to have been acting under some kind of trance.
The Guardian Angel

About Lauri, and through him the story of other victims of both school bullying and a separate childhood trauma: victims full of white rage, which may lead to school shootings and other extreme acts of violence. The film is also about our society: a society without sufficient understanding or desire to address the emergence of school violence.
White Rage

The brilliant young physicist Henrik and his fellow students develop a fusion reactor that produces endless clean energy, potentially saving Earth from environmental catastrophe. The reactor, however, is harnessed for commercial use, and the consequences for the planet and society are devastating. By the year 2064, the world has been ravaged by climate change. The UN succeeds in developing a form of time travel that can return a person's memories and personality to the moment of birth. Henrik is sent back to the past in an attempt to prevent the escalation of a catastrophe before it is too late. Something goes wrong and Henrik is forced to begin his mission from a very different starting point to the one he is used to.
After Us, the Flood

Princess tells the true story of former cabaret dancer Anna Lappalainen's redemptive struggle with insanity, who checked in to Finland's Kellokoski Psychiatric Hospital in 1945.
Princess

The main characters of the film are two small boys who share the throne of Karmapa, the highest office of one of Tibetan Buddhism's main sects and the third in line after the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. As with the Dalai Lama, Karmapa is the same soul which reincarnates in each successor to the office, who is identified by omens, portents and other signs. The Karmapa line actually pre-dates the Dalai Lama's, and their respective importance has alternated in the course of history with either the Karmapa or Dalai Lama holding precedence. Only one of the current Karmapas lives in Tibet, who is recognized by the Dalai Lama but controlled by the Chinese government for political ends. The second Karmapa lives in New Delhi, India and was selected by a Tibetan group in exile. The film was shot in India, Nepal and Tibet and features the Dalai Lama as narrator, providing an incisive spiritual and political view of occupied Tibet.
Karmapa - Two Ways of Divinity

Eight-year-old Zoran is the hero of this story set in Skopje during the German occupation of the city in World War II. Through his eyes, we experience all the cruelty, poverty and suffering of wartime. A love affair between his Macedonian mother and a German officer will help his family get through the hard times…
The Liberation of Skopje

Julius, who devours comic books and vampire stories, has a lively imagination. Julius meets Arnold Cautious, who lives in an abandoned house on the outskirts of town and introduces himself as a degenerated, strawberry juice-drinking vampire. Julius and Cautious become friends. Together they try to make the Lucky Stone, the recipe for which is in Cautious' grandmother's secret recipe book. Julius wants to give the stone to his estranged parents so they can rediscover their common happiness. Julius and Arnold's laboratory attempts to make the Lucky Stone falter badly time and time again, but they stubbornly pursue their quest for happiness.
Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone

Marissa, a 25-year-old woman, goes through an unimaginable journey trying to maintain her sense of self after becoming a victim of human trafficking and sex slavery.
Back Towards Light

Moonshine Village is a story about producing moonshine in Kitee, Finland, and its effect on the village's social and economic development between 1960-70. For most families producing Moonshine was a prerequisite. Kitee became one of the most remarkable producers - both in good and bad. According to an 85-year old police officer, in the 1960s there were no villages that were not producing Moonshine. Yet, the city mayor of Kitee says that this time has been the most creative time in the town's history.
Moonshine Village

A small town ice hockey team fights through their first season in an upper division. The players' dreams might have changed from childhood but their love for the sport does not fade.
The Long Shift

A huge doping scandal erupted at the 2001 cross-country skiing world championship in Lahti, Finland, leading to large numbers of disqualifications. Athletes from the host country in particular had made generous use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. It was to be the precursor of more drug cases at the Winter Olympics a year later in Salt Lake City. When Heroes Lie analyzes the history of doping from the 1970s to the present day, using archive footage and interviews with skiers, coaches and experts.
When Heroes Lie
Temiar Senoi, an indigenous people of Malaysia, live in the realm of unique dream culture. Their exceptionally harmonious and non-violent way of living has been claimed to be a direct result of their dream directed habits. Their sole aim is to exist in balance with nature and fellow man. But the nature is under threat by a massive rain forest logging operation masterminded by the Malaysian government. And the tribe itself is under another, direct threat by the same government, who try to institute "modern" customs among the tribes, including state religion and education programs.
A Dreamer and the Dreamtribe
A look at the life and music of Pekka Streng who died at the age of 26 in 1975.
The Magnetic Man

A projectionist travels across Kyrgyzstan to bring the wonders of the silver screen to the people.
The Stars Caravan

The film is about a psychologist and entertainment industry operator Sergei Knyazev, who organizes parties for rich people and various role-playing games where they can play beggars or take part in duels, for example.
Pavlov's Dogs

Lone Star Hotel is a touching journey into the mental landscape of a Finnish man who ponders on his future, his life and the realisation of his dreams.
Lone Star Hotel
An investigative documentary about the violation of human rights in Turkmenistan, and the willingness of Western companies to turn a blind eye for financial gain.
Shadow of the Holy Book

Shawn Huff and Ervin Latimer Jr. are the children of African-American basketball players Leon Huff and Ervin Latimer Sr. who arrived in Finland in the 1970s. They have grown up to become Finnish social and political influencers through their fathers' perseverance, ambition and the societal racism that has been passed down through the generations to their sons. The sons channel the experiences of their silent fathers into action and both generations fight for a more equal world.