Pekka Lehto

Paavo Mäkinen's alcoholism is hard on the whole family. His wife Terttu falls into depression and is hospitalized. Their children Marja, Tapsa, and Sanna each show symptoms in their own way: leaving home, drinking, skipping school. Will Paavo manage to stop drinking for the sake of his family?

Docudrama about the Soviet occupation of a Finnish village in the fall before the Winter War.

Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) was a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, "Seven Brothers/Seitsemän veljestä". Although Kivi was among the very earliest authors of prose and lyrics in Finnish language, he is still considered one of the greatest of them all.

A fictitious biography of Aira Samulin, the goddess of dance and importer of all the international dance crazes to Finland for some fifty years. The life story of this extravagant ever-teen, well beyond the usual retirement age, is told inside a fictitious plot about a Master of Ceremonies trying to persuade Aira to stage a show at his cabaret restaurant. Besides Aira Samulin, many other Finnish celebrities appear among the eccentric lineup auditioning for the show, playing more or less their fictionalised selves.

A fictitious biography of Aira Samulin, the goddess of dance and importer of all the international dance crazes to Finland for some fifty years. The life story of this extravagant ever-teen, well beyond the usual retirement age, is told inside a fictitious plot about a Master of Ceremonies trying to persuade Aira to stage a show at his cabaret restaurant. Besides Aira Samulin, many other Finnish celebrities appear among the eccentric lineup auditioning for the show, playing more or less their fictionalised selves.

This very serious drama, based on a true incident, explores the unremitting labor which put a young mother living in rural isolation into the situation of being charged with having thrown her children down a well. Her husband is an unimaginative, work-obsessed man who cannot see that her constant hard work without any support or sympathy from anyone is driving the sensitive woman to consider suicide. When the loutish fellow discovers that his wife and three children are missing, he calls the police, and a manhunt begins. The police discover the oldest boy alive, and find that the mother tried to drown herself, but has survived. The two younger children remained missing.

This very serious drama, based on a true incident, explores the unremitting labor which put a young mother living in rural isolation into the situation of being charged with having thrown her children down a well. Her husband is an unimaginative, work-obsessed man who cannot see that her constant hard work without any support or sympathy from anyone is driving the sensitive woman to consider suicide. When the loutish fellow discovers that his wife and three children are missing, he calls the police, and a manhunt begins. The police discover the oldest boy alive, and find that the mother tried to drown herself, but has survived. The two younger children remained missing.

A documentary about Ior Bock, and a legend passed down in the Bock family about the thousand-year-old temple of Lemminkäinen, located in Gumbostrand at Sipoo.

A documentary about Ior Bock, and a legend passed down in the Bock family about the thousand-year-old temple of Lemminkäinen, located in Gumbostrand at Sipoo.

Max Sjöman, Architect: "This is the story of my daughter. Her life was short. Short is not purposeless. I brick her picture into the cornerstone of an atomic power station. It is my testament to the future generations. They'll see from that photograph what a healthy child once looked like."

Max Sjöman, Architect: "This is the story of my daughter. Her life was short. Short is not purposeless. I brick her picture into the cornerstone of an atomic power station. It is my testament to the future generations. They'll see from that photograph what a healthy child once looked like."

Max Sjöman, Architect: "This is the story of my daughter. Her life was short. Short is not purposeless. I brick her picture into the cornerstone of an atomic power station. It is my testament to the future generations. They'll see from that photograph what a healthy child once looked like."

A documentary-like film about Jussi Parviainen's divorce.

A documentary-like film about Jussi Parviainen's divorce.

Nine Ways to Approach Helsinki, shot by Pirjo Honkasalo and Eero Salmenhaara, is a documentary on the capital of Finland.

This biographical film celebrates the little-known life of the Finnish novelist and revolutionary Maiju Lassila (Asko Sarkola), born in 1868. Lassila's early years are briefly shown, then the film richly details his active and paradoxically reclusive adult life, beginning with his sojourn in St. Petersburg, working as a businessman. Unable to stay away from politics, he caused the assassination of a high-ranking Czarist and as a result, had to run back to Finland to hide. Once established in the comparative safety of a small village, he taught school in order to support his real vocation as a writer. Always living on the edge of poverty, if not square in the middle of it, Lassila continues to avoid public contact - he keeps his identity low-key and camoflages it by publishing under a variety of pseudonyms.

Docudrama about the Soviet occupation of a Finnish village in the fall before the Winter War.

Docudrama about the Soviet occupation of a Finnish village in the fall before the Winter War.

Guerrilla style documentary about Finnish Neo-Nazi and occult wacko Pekka Siitoin.

Guerrilla style documentary about Finnish Neo-Nazi and occult wacko Pekka Siitoin.

On the eve of the Finnish Civil War, the film follows the last days of Alfred Kordelin, the richest man in Finland.

Interwoven with scenes that are meant to grab attention by their stunning composition, this biographical look at Finland's violinist Arto Arsi is not so much a narration of his childhood and early years, as an attempt to artistically show what was happening inside his psyche during that time. Literally sold to a master teacher, Sergei Rippas (Tarmo Manni) by his mother when he was still a child, the violin prodigy was forcefully and strictly raised to practice, practice, and perfect his technique. Once an adult, Arsi finds a way to escape the rigors of a U.S. tour and drowns his overworked self in drink, or seeks out one-night stands, or otherwise lets off steam. The tightly-wound spring that has been coiled since he was forced into his grueling training and work sessions -- shown through symbolic images -- eventually snaps in a healthy way, freeing Arsi at last to continue on, simply for the love of music.

A movie inspired by a true crime - the coldblooded Heino double murder, committed by a group of teenagers - that shocked Finland in 2001.

A movie inspired by a true crime - the coldblooded Heino double murder, committed by a group of teenagers - that shocked Finland in 2001.

A Finnish Prostitute and four Gangsters expose how the Drug Squad Police Chief commits crimes, rather than solves them. Is this corruption of an individual or a system?

A Finnish Prostitute and four Gangsters expose how the Drug Squad Police Chief commits crimes, rather than solves them. Is this corruption of an individual or a system?

Onni is a shoemaker, aged 70. Toivo is a blacksmith, aged 75. The film tells the story of their generation, from childhood through various stages to the present day. They have lived through the entire Finnish history of this century.