What could be more intriguing than a film about reindeer racing, especially when the main protagonist is a 13-year-old girl (Catlyn), blind in one eye from birth, severely lacking in confidence and terrified (at least initially) of the unpredictable beast that will only race when it wants to.
Enter Sari Kettunen, 51, the past champion of the Reindeer Cup, who happens to live next door to Catlyn.
Sari is not your average reindeer racer, and it has been a rocky road to the top for her. Now, she wants to share her wisdom so that it’ll be easier for Catlyn and so asks the teenager to accompany her on her various reindeer jobs so Catlyn can get to know this wild and unpredictable animal.
“Through Catlyn’s story, the film shows what it’s like to grow up in a small rural town where nature, solitude and silence are the dominating forces in life, and where finding one’s own “thing” can change the course of everything,” the project synopsis reads. “It is a growth story in which, through a new hobby and with Sari’s support, Catlyn finds confidence to be herself.”
Director Mervi Junkkonen, three times winner of a Finnish Jussi (Oscar equivalent) for editing, explained the essence of her story during FFA. “It’s a story about coming of age and also about the importance of a mentor in a young person’s life,” she said. “I have now been following them for one year and I have seen already a big change in Catlyn. She was very much afraid of the reindeers in the beginning, and their horns, and now she is treating them by herself like she has always done it. I can very much relate to Catlyn because I was once also a shy observer and I grew up in a small village like her. It demands an extra courage to come out of your shell and find your own voice and this is what my film is about.”
The documentary is produced by Jouko Aaltonen of Illume Ltd, and co-produced with Swedish outfit Ginestra Film. The Finnish film Foundation has given script support, and AVEK has helped fund the project’s development. The budget is €345,224 and Aaltonen is looking to deliver the film in Spring 2025. At FFA, he was looking to generate sales, finance, broadcast and distribution interest.
“She [director Junkkonen] is coming from the north, so she knows the people, she knows the mentality, she knows the spirit and she also knows what this very strange, some might even say, exotic sport reindeer racing is,” Aaltonen explained to the professional audience. “It has been practised in Northern Finland already from the 1930s. So it’s not a new thing, but it’s a very special kind of sport because a reindeer is a wild animal, and it runs when it wants to run and if it doesn’t want to run, it doesn’t. So you have to be really skillful working and racing with reindeers.”
