The Finland showcase at this year’s Sunnyside of the Doc (09.30 CET, Monday 21 June) features seven new works in development/progress looking for international partners. “We want to reflect upon #storytellingmatters by sharing interesting stories by Finnish documentarists that highlight how important themes resonate across the globe,” says Vera Ruokonen, project manager of Audiovisual Producers Finland.
This year marks the first time that Audiovisual Producers Finland is mustering at La Rochelle with such a slew of diverse projects. “Our stories are human, observant and help viewers to understand – these stories unite us,” adds Ruokonen.
Ruokonen describes Nasrin’s voice (directed by Kaisa Rastimo, produced by Ella Ruohonen for Image Club, as “a very brave and important documentary about women’s rights, forced child marriages (the main character Nasrin is from Kurdistan and was 13 when was forced to marry an older human trafficker), parental child abduction (by their father when Nasrin decided to divorce him in Finland) and the voices of refugee women which are usually unheard.”
Wacky Tie Films’ Lynx Man, selected to pitch at the official Sunny Side of the Doc: Wildlife & Conservation section, is directed by Juha Suonpää and produced by Pasi Hakkio and Niina Virtanen. The doc chronicles pensioner Hannu’s discovery of a connection with the Eurasian lynx hiding in the forests, at the same time opening a gateway into the Finnish nature and a genuine connection with the environment. Can Hannu save the Eurasian lynx, or is it in fact nature who ultimately saves the man?
Teatro Productions’ music documentary The Echoes of the Universe focuses on renowned composer Kaija Saariaho whom the filmmakers have been following since 2019, and will continue to shoot through to spring 2022. Preliminary delivery is scheduled for Autumn 2022, with a release planned for October 2022 when Kaija celebrates her 70th birthday in Helsinki.
Producer Kaisa Näreranta explains how the doc features a woman who, “despite the resentments of her parents and even some rejections from her teachers, decided to follow that [musical] urge. That happened over 40 years ago, and today this woman serves as a role model for many young women in music.”
Lock-In, directed by Chico Pereira and produced by Kaarle Aho, tells the story of 11 Spanish mercury miners who, in 1984, staged a lock-in for 11 days and nights to protest against the terrible social and working conditions. Director Pereira is from the same town as the miners. “My idea is to do a re-enactment and find 11 young locals that will be willing to live inside the mine for 11 days to pay tribute to those old miners and maybe approximate the experience that they had.”
Director Jenni Kivistö and director/producer Jussi Rastas (Väki Films) explain how their documentary White Desert “deals with immigration and addresses old colonial mindsets.” After many years working in a car repair workshop, the film’s protagonist Sabiri, formerly from Burkina Faso, manages to achieve his lifelong dream of becoming a professional dancer and choreographer. In Burkina Faso the protagonist is considered a rich person living in a European paradise, but in reality he must supplement his income by working in a mail delivery centre to eke out a living. Nevertheless, the dancer returns to the Burkina Faso village in a minibus, determined to liberate the villagers from the yoke of colonialism and their dependency on Europe.
In Handle Productions’ historical doc Fluyt, directed by Sakari Suuronen and produced by Hanna Hemilä, a recently discovered shipwreck in the Baltic Sea takes us on a journey into a hitherto undiscovered history of the 17th century.
In Guerilla Films’ Guardians of Creation, Spanish ethno-ecologist Álvaro Fernandez-Llamazares arrives among the nomadic Daasanach tribe of Turkana, Kenya (aka the Cradle of Humankind) in order to study the relationship between humans and nature.
Audiovisual Producers Finland’s Vera Ruokonen reflects on some of the characteristics of Finnish docmaking. “Finns as documentarists are a wide group of professionals and everyone is following their own passion and chooses subject matters that raise questions and also have very personal importance for them. Although from a small country, or perhaps because they are from a small country, Finnish documentarists tend to focus on global, large-scale themes, issues and crises. There is often a very strong international link to the story. And even if the subject is local, it grows to be a global theme.”
“Also our history makes us a good observers,” she adds. “We’ve been a poor country, we have been part of Sweden and then part of Russian empire. We have been independent since 1917, and had terrible wars, and after WW2… the production of the war reparations helped Finland evolve from an poor agrarian country into an industrialised country. And now Finland is seen as one of the examples of Nordic welfare countries, and is also the happiest country of the world.”
Ruokonen points to the fact that for that this has been the case for the past four years, as per https://worldhappiness.report/.
“We are pioneers in many things: in education, children daycare system and our social welfare system, sustainability, IT, mobile phones (Nokia)… just to mention a few,” she continues. “So we have seen a lot – and done a lot – during these short years of independence. Maybe this heritage also gives to our documentary makers eyes to see their subjects and approach their subjects in so many levels. We want to help others and give voice to underdogs.”
