Eight new documentary feature projects were presented during the 9th edition of the Finnish Film Affair on September 24. The winner of the Best Documentary Project Award, given for the first time to the project with most international potential, was The Mission (pictured) by feature-length doc debutant Tania Moilanen.
The prize, sponsored by AVEK, is valued at €3000 and earmarked for the international marketing of the film.
The jury citation read how “with the USA continuing to close its borders, The Mission portrays an intimate attempt to retain a dialogue with the outside world, even if that dialogue is undertaken by evangelising Mormons within an ostensibly secular Finland. Director Tania Moilanen brings a fresh energy to the table, and we are excited to see what’s to come.”
Currently in production, the film is an intimate coming-of-age story that reveals the inner lives of young Mormon missionaries like never seen before, as they leave their homes for the first time and embark upon the most emotionally, physically and spiritually challenging period of their life.
McKenna, Megan, Tyler and Kai – teenagers in sharp suits – are on a mission to prove themselves to God and their community. We’ll get to see how these elusive troopers of the Mormon faith feel, think, doubt, fear & love. We’ll witness the growth of these young, passionate teenagers as they learn about the world around them and most of all – about themselves.
The Mission is produced by Isabella Karhu and Juho-Pekka Tanskanen of Danish Bear Productions.
The other documentary projects presented at Finnish Film Affair 2020 were:
The Black Gold
A documentary that shows what a major oil spill at the Gulf of Finland (or any other Arctic area) would cause. The film shows how an ecocatastrophe caused by oil would proceed minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day in the vulnerable nature of the North.
Director: Petteri Saario. Producer: Elina Pohjola & Leila Lyytikäinen. Production company: Citizen Jane Productions Oy
Eatnameamet – our silent struggle
A political pamphlet portraying the indigenous Sámi people fighting for their existence. The film follows the ongoing cultural genocide of the Sámi which the current Governmental politics allow. Eatnameamet reveals multiple colonial acts undertaken by the State of Finland towards the Sámi people and reveals the government’s attitude towards them… This film is a cry for help for the last indigenous people living in the EU.
Director: Suvi West. Producer: Janne Niskala. Production company: Vaski Filmi ltd
Guardians of Creation
Alvaro is impressed by the stories and tales shared within the nomadic Daasanach tribe living in the Kenyan region of Turkana, aka the Cradle of Humankind. But as the tribe prepares for a Dimi ceremony, where they use the skins and horns of wild animals as ritual artefacts, Alvaro is shocked when he realises that the extinction of wild animals is actually caused by these tribal rituals. The people that once lived side by side with the wildlife have gradually forgotten how to co-exist with the nature.
Director: Iiris Härmä. Producer: Visa Koiso-Kanttila. Production company: Guerilla Films
The Last of the Seagulls
Bulgarian ‘seagull’ Ivan, 58, used to chase wealthy foreign ladies at Sunny Beach resort. He has seen Soviets coming and leaving, Westerners flooding in. Now, with his EU-passport, the hunter has become the bait. In the 1970s, Bulgarian men wanted to marry East German and Soviet ladies in order to get away. Now Russians and Ukrainians come to Sunny Beach to find Bulgarian men in order to get married and stay in the EU….
Director: Tonislav Hristov. Producer: Kaarle Aho. Production company: Making Movies Oy
Snowball Effect
A few years after feminist Anna Mäkelä’s election as mayor of old-fashioned Kittilä, a bizarre scandal involving questionable ski lift deals erupts, leading to lawsuits, a media circus and intervention from the Finnish state. A documentary film about “local politics gone Twin Peaks”, Snowball Effect is set in an international winter wonderland, the home of skiing, reindeer and the Northern Lights, and follows the snowballing case that started with the dismissal of mayor Mäkelä in Finland, one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Or is it?
Director: Pauliina Punkki. Producer: Pauliina Punkki, Kaisa Astikainen. Production company: Ida Productions Oy
The Trans Syrian Express
Organised by the Ministry of Defence after the personal order of Vladimir Putin, the 2019 train exhibition “Syrian Breakthrough” transported the spoils of war from Syria around all the major cities in the country. Now is the time of power again, as Russians are fighting Ukrainians and bombing Syria. The train covered 28,500 km on its 65-day journey, stopping in 62 towns. It was visited by a million people, who don’t care about the Syrian war, but were just there for the entertainment. This film seeks to show the ordinary life of these people, connecting their lives through the tracks of the train.
Director: Alina Rudnitskaya. Producers: Pertti Veijalainen, Sergey Vinokurov, Dorota Roszkowska. Production company: Illume Oy, 317-Films, Arkana Studio
We Are Animals
In 2007, 19-year-old Saila sees secretly-filmed footage from 101 working farmhouses. She, like the rest of the country, is shocked and joins the animal rights movement, becoming in 2009 the first activist to publicly reveal her identity. This decision lands her – instead of the farmers – in court for years. Afterwards, Saila turns the camera to the justice system in order to reveal how absurd it is. As the government gears up to decide on the new animal welfare act in 2021, Saila is torn between democratic means and activist actions to force change…
Director: Saila Kivelä & Vesa Kuosmanen. Producer: Elli Toivoniemi & Venla Hellstedt. Production company: Tuffi Films
