Jani Volanen

Acting

Jani Volanen

Born 1971-11-01 · Helsinki, Finland

Jani Kristian Volanen (born 1 November 1971) is a Finnish actor, director and writer. He has appeared in films such as The Romanov Stones (1993), Homecoming (2015), The Mine (2016), Dogs Don't Wear Pants (2019) and Hatching (2022). He is also a creator of a mystery thriller series Summer of Sorrow.

Acting credits

Dogs Don't Wear Pants poster
6.9

A grieving heart surgeon struggling with the loss of his wife drifts through an emotionally detached life while raising his teenage daughter. His chance encounter with a dominatrix awakens feelings he thought were gone, drawing him into a dark and unconventional world where pain and desire intertwine.

Dogs Don't Wear Pants

2019

Hatching poster
6.2

12 year old Tinja is desperate to please her mother, a woman obsessed with presenting the image of a perfect family. One night, Tinja finds a strange egg. What hatches is beyond belief.

Hatching

2022

The Mine poster
6.8

A young and ambitious civil servant Jussi finds himself being in charge of the environmental permit of a huge nickel and uranium mine in Northern Finland. The Talvivaara mine, led by a charismatic globe trotting visioner Pekka Perä is introducing an entirely new method of collecting minerals whilst creating jobs in one of the poorest areas in Scandinavia. Jussi slowly discovers that he has been led astray by several people and that the new method has serious downsides he did not forsee. The mine is causing environmental hazards that are being hushed down. A new application for another permit is brough to his table by the same mine. Along with the application comes an interesting job offer and a chance of a new beginning. Jussi has to decide whether he will play along and if so, with whom.

The Mine

2016

Ladies of Steel poster
5.2

Inkeri, 75, has hit her husband on the head with a solid iron frying pan and is planning to bury him in their garden. Before facing the rest of her life in prison, there may yet be a moment left to really live. Inkeri makes her sisters Sylvi and Raili join her on a trip to the Koli National Park. Will Inkeri find in her that free young woman who desired a feminist revolution in the 70s?

Ladies of Steel

2020

Fire-Eater poster
5.4

The twin sisters Helena and Irene are born in Helsinki during World War II. A few months later their mother, Sirkka, leaves the girls in the care of their grandmother, an old communist, and runs away with a German soldier. Their life under the protection of their grandmother and the teachings of communism ends first with the death of Stalin, then with that of their grandmother. The girls are eight years old when they are put in an orphanage. Their mother shows up at the orphanage in the company of Ramon, a Spanish trapeze artist. They are on a talent search for a German circus. Ramon trains the reluctant Irene during circus tours in Central Europe. She becomes the trapeze star of the circus. The hard work soon exhausts Irene and she falls from height, as if on purpose. Helena has secretly learned the art of fire-eating. Now she is burdened with both her mother and her sister. The violent life, however, separates the three from each other. In the present-day Helsinki the middle-aged...

Fire-Eater

1998

The Prince of Soap poster
3.3

Screenwriter Ilona falls in love with Kalle, the main star of the series, and mixes fact and fiction when she starts writing a romance between herself and the star. Jealous producer Raakel does everything she can to destroy Ilona's plans.

The Prince of Soap

2006

Police Investigates poster
5.0

A 16 year old girl claims she was abducted. Two police officer are tasked with investigating whether her story is plausible.

Police Investigates

2012

The Bouncer poster
7.0

A night club bouncer gets disgusted of all the violence and repression of the weak he is seeing. He has to act to protect the victims.

The Bouncer

2020

Matti: Hell Is for Heroes poster
5.5

Four Olympic gold medals, seven World Championship titles, four World Cup tour championships, and forty six World Cup circuit victories. Once his career as a professional athlete ended however, the other side of his personality emerged into public view in all of its vulgarity. An alcohol dependency, several marriages accompanied by numerous marital problems, petty crime, uncontrolled acts of violence, and greedy hangers-on.

Matti: Hell Is for Heroes

2006

Ladies of Steel: Like There's No Tomorrow poster
6.9

While at the reception, Inkeri overhears the doctor telling the nurse behind the corner that there is no life expectancy or hope left. Inkeri's daughter Maija takes it upon herself to care for her mother, even if it means forcing her, but Inkeri has other plans. As her last act, she intends to save Maija from repeating her own mistakes and then throw herself into the Arctic Ocean. Inkeri escapes from the nursing home for her final journey with her steel-haired friends and Matti, who has tagged along. Before reaching the Arctic Ocean, Inkeri throws herself into life: painful memories, intense emotions, and forest rave.

Ladies of Steel: Like There's No Tomorrow

2025

Jerico 2000 poster
7.8

Jerico 2000 is a magazine programme parody made by Julmahuvi group. It's mainly made of parts from "Studio Julmahuvi" TV series. It participated in Rose d'Or film festival in Montreux.

Jerico 2000

1999

Ylikävely poster
NR

Eija is the wife of a busy business owner, carrying the burden of taking care of a family. During her weak moments, Eija writes a letter that comes back to haunt her. Suddenly she has to reevaluate everything about her life.

Ylikävely

2008

Man's Job poster
5.7

Juha is 38 years old and has three small children and a depressed wife. He sees himself as strong and believes a man should provide for his family. But one day Juha is fired from his job. Ashamed, he weaves a web of lies to hide the fact from his family. With the help of his friend Olli, Juha begins prostituting himself to support his wife and children. With this he makes in two hours what it took him two days to earn before. The shame and deception mushroom, but the pay from the new profession seems to offset the downside.

Man's Job

2007

Butterflies poster
5.3

Siiri, a hardworking millennial, wants to be successful in her job as the advisor to the Minister of Economic Affairs. She craves a promotion. Siiri’s job takes her and the hard-to-handle minister, an unpredictable eccentric boss lady, to a big tango festival in a small Finnish town. Siiri’s father Petri, a former tango artist and an overly optimistic middle-aged man, wants to make himself useful to Siiri while trying to hide the fact that he himself is homeless, bankrupt and finally at his wits end. Over the course of one summer weekend both Siiri’s and Petri’s facade comes tumbling down but the tango keeps going on in the sweet Finnish summer night.

Butterflies

2024

An Eye for an Eye poster
6.5

Sisters Kiia and Eija moved away from the village of Pirunperä in Kainuu after their father committed suicide. Kiia has become a sculptor and is plagued by nightmares related to her home village. Kiia returns to her hometown to create sculptures for the local church. At the same time, she investigates her father's and her hometown's past.

An Eye for an Eye

1999

Happier Times, Grump poster
6.4

The Grump prepares to die – everything is done and his wife is dead. He’s making his own coffin when the life walks in, all of a sudden. The granddaughter needs the stubbornness and wisdom of her grandpa. In return, The Grump gets a meaning for his life – and a big secret.

Happier Times, Grump

2018

Summer Is Crazy poster
5.3

After the bankruptcy of their fine dining restaurant, the Eerolas are stuck in the seaside village of Nauvo with no clear plan for the future. In the shadow of the father’s depression both the mother and the teenage daughter rebel against the stagnant life, each in their own way. In the magical light of the midnight sun, new loves begin while others come to an end.

Summer Is Crazy

2025

Rakastin epätoivoista naista poster
4.5

A romantic comedy about 30-year-old Leo and a 40-year-old, pregnant single mother of three, Maarit.

Rakastin epätoivoista naista

1999

Vääpeli Körmy ja kahtesti laukeava poster
4.8

New takeover plans and Russian art thief looking for Mannerheim's portraits keep Sergeant Körmy busy.

Vääpeli Körmy ja kahtesti laukeava

1997

The Joyboys Story poster
7.3

A mockumentary about a fictional Finnish boy band The Joyboys.

The Joyboys Story

1997

Vääpeli Körmy – taisteluni poster
4.8

Relations between Sweden and Finland come to near breaking point. When further negotiations led by President Mara fail, Sergeant Körmy interferes in the course of events.

Vääpeli Körmy – taisteluni

1994

One Foot Under poster
4.5

Visa Vuorio, a 35-year old team leader at the Helsinki city gardening department, is suffering from a terminal neurological disease and only has a few months to live. Because of this, he is a member of a therapeutical support group for people suffering from terminal diseases. Visa's life changes when a young female reporter, Hanna Manninen arrives at the support group offering to write a series of articles about Visa's life story.

One Foot Under

2009

Vääpeli Körmy ja vetenalaiset vehkeet poster
4.6

Sergeant Friman is developing an automatic submarine detector that piques the interest of both, Swedish and Russian spies.

Vääpeli Körmy ja vetenalaiset vehkeet

1991

Love and Other Troubles poster
5.2

Ville, 25, is a downbeat former child star who's successfully avoided his womanizing rock 'n' roll dad for years. Everything changes when his dad moves into his flat and they both fall in love with the same American line-dancing teacher.

Love and Other Troubles

2012

Behind the camera

The Bouncer poster
7.0

A night club bouncer gets disgusted of all the violence and repression of the weak he is seeing. He has to act to protect the victims.

The Bouncer

2020

Jerico 2000 poster
7.8

Jerico 2000 is a magazine programme parody made by Julmahuvi group. It's mainly made of parts from "Studio Julmahuvi" TV series. It participated in Rose d'Or film festival in Montreux.

Jerico 2000

1999

Jerico 2000 poster
7.8

Jerico 2000 is a magazine programme parody made by Julmahuvi group. It's mainly made of parts from "Studio Julmahuvi" TV series. It participated in Rose d'Or film festival in Montreux.

Jerico 2000

1999

Rumble poster
5.5

A summery, boozy road movie in which Leo aimlessly drives a group of aging teddy bears through the Finnish countryside in a red Cadillac. The film centers on the bromance of middle-aged men, booze, and pizza, which they decide to order to their moving car. Not even a Russian truck driver, Stakes' alcohol recommendations, or the police can stop this gang.

Rumble

2002

Rumble poster
5.5

A summery, boozy road movie in which Leo aimlessly drives a group of aging teddy bears through the Finnish countryside in a red Cadillac. The film centers on the bromance of middle-aged men, booze, and pizza, which they decide to order to their moving car. Not even a Russian truck driver, Stakes' alcohol recommendations, or the police can stop this gang.

Rumble

2002

The Joyboys Story poster
7.3

A mockumentary about a fictional Finnish boy band The Joyboys.

The Joyboys Story

1997

The Joyboys Story poster
7.3

A mockumentary about a fictional Finnish boy band The Joyboys.

The Joyboys Story

1997

Distractions poster
6.5

Distracted by life, Mr. Makkonen misses his engagement party by decades. From the cradle to the grave, life keeps interrupting, not only him, but a tired mother, a doomed superhero and the rest of the comrades in this uncontrollable world. Mixing comedy and fantasy with dark stories, Distractions will deliver the laughs with strings attached.

Distractions

2015