Acting

Arja Saijonmaa

Born

1944-12-01 (81)

Place of birth

Mikkeli, Finland

Known for

Acting

Credits

31 titles

IMDb profile

Known for

6.2

Melodifestivalen (direct translation: The Melody Festival) is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT). The competition is a six part tour (5 heats + the final) with stops in cities across Sweden to determine the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. Melodifestivalen is also known informally as "Mello", or internationally as "Melfest".

Melodifestivalen

1959

5.0

Skavlan is a Norwegian-Swedish television talk show hosted by Norwegian journalist Fredrik Skavlan. It premiered in Sweden on Sveriges Television in January 2009, and the first guests to appear on the show were former Prime Minister of Sweden Göran Persson and his wife Anitra Steen. On 8 May 2009, it was announced that Skavlan had been renewed for a second season. It was also announced that the show would no longer only be produced by SVT in Sweden; Skavlan would now be partly produced in Norway by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The first twelve episodes of Skavlan's second season were produced by SVT in Sweden, and the remaining twelve by NRK in Norway. Skavlan speaks Norwegian and his dialog is therefore subtitled in Swedish in Sweden, even though the two languages are quite similar and mutually intelligible. If the persons being interviewed by Skavlan are Swedish, he often tells them to let him know if they do not understand what he is saying. Swedish novelist Jan Guillou has criticized SVT for subtitling the program, stating "there is no need for that. If the host had been Danish, subtitling would have been necessary, but with a Norwegian host it does not make any sense."

Skavlan

2009

6.3

Så ska det låta is a Swedish game show, based on the Irish The Lyrics Board. The show was introduced in 1997 and led by Peter Harryson until Peter Settman took over in 2006. Så ska det låta can be watched online at svt play for approximately one month after airing.

Så ska det låta

1997

5.4

Allsång på Skansen is a Swedish tv show held at Skansen, Stockholm, every summer on Tuesdays. The audience is supposed to sing-along with musical guests to well-known Swedish songs. The show started in 1935 on a small scale - about fifty people in the audience. Today about 10 000–25 500 people come to each performance.

Allsång på Skansen

1979

7.4

Follow the life and adventures of curious, kind and idealistic Moomintroll. A typical hero in a coming-of-age story, Moomintroll tries to tackle the puzzle of growing up to his true, individualistic self while remaining a beloved part of the family.

Moominvalley

2019

TV presenter invites Swedish celebrities and interesting personalities to her summer island in the Stockholm Archipelago for an evening filled with food, drink, laughs and emotion. She interviews her guests about their career, life and dreams, trying to learn new things about them.

Renées brygga

2015

Film credits

2020s · 2 titles

8.0

A stop-motion doomsday comedy, in which airport-bound creatures wait out the impending apocalypse.

The End

2026

5.0

An intimate portrait of the legendary Finnish singer and human rights advocate Arja Saijonmaa. The film traces her artistic journey and lifelong friendship with the Greek composer and freedom fighter Mikis Theodorakis, whose music and ideals shaped her mission. Through archival footage and present-day reflections, the film portrays a fearless artist and bridge-builder for peace.

Sing For Me Arja

2026

2010s · 3 titles

Interpreter, actor and entertainer. Sven-Bertil Taubes' career spans almost a lifetime. As the son of two legendary artists, he had a lot to live up to. This is the story of Sven-Bertil Taubes' life, told in his own words. It will be a journey through nine decades.

Sven-Bertil

2016

4.6

A private detective engages in a sexually-charged relationship with a real estate broker.

Honeybunnies

2017

4.5

A bittersweet look at life’s many challenges, albeit as experienced by furry, feathered, and slimy creatures who sound and feel all too human.

Something to Remember

2019

2000s · 1 titles

5.0

Nina Frisk is a flight attendant who loves flying. She is happy above the clouds, far away from her dysfunctional family and superficial love life. But then one day Nina meets Marcus and his son William, and falls helplessly in love. For the first time ever in her life, Nina begins to long for a family of her own. But Nina soon discovers that life on earth can be just as turbulent as in the sky.

Nina Frisk

2007

1990s · 1 titles

A celebration of Eurovision's 40th anniversary hosted by Eurovision superfan Björn Kjellman. Clips from the archive are mixed with interviews and performances of some of the beloved songs from the first 40 years of this contest.

Melodifestivalen 40 år

1995

1980s · 3 titles

10.0

This is a tale that has an epic scope in scenery "the northern snow-covered lands of coastal Norway" and is dramatized by moments of tumultuous stormy weather. But the focus is on Heikki (Stein Bjorn) a young man who is inspired by the northern lights to take a horse-drawn sled and make his way to the sea, hoping to come back with abundant fish. He is overtaken by a snowstorm and is forced to find shelter in a small, isolated cabin that is home to a half-crazy widow, her baby, and a blind man. Driven to arson by her internal demons, the woman destroys the cabin. She and the blind man perish, but Heikki manages to save the baby. He is now faced with an even greater challenge as he holds the infant and looks in the direction of the coastline.

Havlandet

1985

7.0

"Life and Death" - A female reporter intended to go on a reporting trip about childbirth to Japan, declines the offer. Instead, she visits a maternity hospital in Sweden. She meets a doctor, who she has been in love for 15 years.

A Matter of Life and Death

1986

10.0

A cow dreams away from the barn routine and goes out into the world, becomes a pop star, talks about world peace in the UN, takes a ride in space before she lands in everyday life again.

From the Diary of a Cow

1985

1970s · 4 titles

Herr Puntila And His Servant Matti poster

8.0

Based on the Bertolt Brecht play, the movie follows the farmer Puntila, who when he's sober is a real pig but whenever he gets drunk becomes very generous. Puntila is trying to get his daughter to get married, but the problem is that his drunk self wants her to marry another man than his sober personality wants.

Herr Puntila And His Servant Matti

1979

A protest against the Eurovision Song Contest, 1975Alternative Festivals were organized all around Sweden. This Alternative Festival was broadcasted from a circus tent in Stockholm, presenting a wide variety of folk culture and music.

Alternativ Festival 1975

1975

9.0

1830 Värmland, Sweden. Master Karl Arthur Ekenstedt comes to aid the Minister at Crosss Church. He falls in love with Charlotte Löwensköld, housekeeper in the rectory. They get engaged. Charlotte is full of life, energetic and practical. Karl Arthur struggle with his faith and God.

Charlotte Löwensköld

1979

No artwork available

Janne, 24, gets a job as dishwasher at a restaurant in Stockholm. He meets a number of people with repressed feelings and amazing dreams.

Restauranten

1978

1960s · 3 titles

5.0

In the year 2012 historian Raimo Lappalainen wants to illustrate how life was 50 years earlier. He becomes obsessed with the fate of a 1970s nude model Saara Turunen, and finds a perfect actress to reconstruct her life and death in front of a TV camera. Meanwhile, a strike at a nuclear plant is covered up by the media.

Time of Roses

1969

7.3

Triangle comedy about a movie crew shooting a no-budget artsy film. Director Pohja is a clumsy beginner, cinematographer Törrönen an old pro, and the leading actors Igor and Merju first detest each other although the script is supposed to make them lovers. The two gradually grow closer even in real life, but the director too has set his eyepiece on Merju.

Pohjan tähteet

1969

4.8

A story about young factory worker Tuija, who has recently met an interesting young man. When the death of a friend interrupts a monotonous and carefree life, the strangest week of Tuija's life begins.

Punatukka

1969

Series credits

6.2

Melodifestivalen

1959

5.0

Skavlan

2009

6.3

Så ska det låta

1997

6.3

Så ska det låta

1997

5.4

Allsång på Skansen

1979

7.4

Moominvalley

2019

Renées brygga

2015

7.0

Five celebrities spend five days together on a castle somewhere in Sweden. Each episode (or day) centres around one of them. This person decides what to to and eat. The others get the chance to ask questions about this persons life and career.