Jaakko Talaskivi

Night on Earth

Jim Jarmusch

Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands

An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.

Shadows in Paradise

Aki Kaurismäki

Matti Pellonpää, Kati Outinen

Nikander, a rubbish collector and would-be entrepreneur finds his plans for success dashed when his business associate dies. One evening, he meets Ilona, a down-on-her luck cashier in a local supermarket—and, falteringly, a bond begins to develop between them.

Ariel

Aki Kaurismäki

Turo Pajala, Susanna Haavisto

Taisto Kasurinen is a Finnish coal miner whose father has just committed suicide and who is framed for a crime he did not commit. In jail, he starts to dream about leaving the country and starting a new life. He escapes from prison but things don't go as planned...

Perkele! Kuvia Suomesta

Jörn Donner, Jaakko Talaskivi

F*** Off! shows no false respect towards the authorities in its impudent and candid reportage of the developing country/welfare state Finland. It is a cinematic parallel to Donner's New Book of Our Land (1967). The travelogue focuses especially on Finland's outsiders, low-paid workers and the unemployed. In desolate provinces, the inhabitants of a cold and barren country either humbly abide their fate, choose to move to Sweden or take refuge in excessive drinking. These images are accompanied by protest songs based on Donner's own prose and the lyrics of poet Jarkko Laine. Perkele is embodied in big business and the political elite.The jagged (anti)aesthetics of the film correspond to the underground movement and the radical politics of the time. The camera agilely penetrates everyday life. Though opposed to censorship, Fuck Off! itself transgresses the boundaries of privacy.

Juha

Aki Kaurismäki

Sakari Kuosmanen, Kati Outinen

A farmer's wife is seduced into running away from her stolid older husband by a city slicker, who enslaves her in a brothel.

Herra Huu – Jestapa jepulis – Penikat sipuliks

Jaakko Talaskivi

M.A. Numminen, Elvi Saarnio

Lonely ghost Mister Who goes around scaring orphan kids in this Finnish children's musical.

Hirttämättömät

Spede Pasanen, Vesa-Matti Loiri

Vesa-Matti Loiri, Simo Salminen

Two outlaws, The Lonely Rider and the Indian Tonto, have caught (at least they think they have) Speedy Gonzales, a ruthless gunfighter from the town of Njietponimaistadi. They start to travel to another town for the reward, through the desert without water and fighting against Indians. And just to find out that they have made a full circle back to origin.

Lampaansyöjät

Seppo Huunonen

Heikki Kinnunen, Leo Lastumäki

Valtteri and Sepe, two ordinary white-collar guys from southern Finland drive up north to implement a plan they've been hatching for months. Because they simply love the taste of lamb, baked "robber-style" in a hole dug under a campfire, they forge their car's number plates and other important documents just to be able to poach sheep grazing on the roadside without getting caught. Lots of man talk around the campfire, aided by lots of booze. The summer may be wet, but the vodka is definitely dry.

Kesäkapina

Jaakko Pakkasvirta

Titta Karakorpi, Hannu Oravisto

Young photography model Susanna and her alienated teenage brother Veli spend the summer of 1969 travelling around Finland, mostly with another girl and her boyfriend. Sporting the latest fashions and trendy hairdos, they naïvely observe and criticise the modern consumer society, advertising, fancy boats and summer cottages, country dances, barbecues, and any other phenomena that were supposed to bother angry young intellectuals in those days. The plot and the political agenda are delivered with a cheerful, tongue-in-cheek mixture of documentary observations, fake TV commercials, fake interviews, philosophical voiceovers and titles, and a jazzy soundtrack by the progressive rock group Wigwam.

Rock'y VI

Aki Kaurismäki

Silu Seppälä, Sakari Kuosmanen

Not to be confused with any of the sequels to Sylvester Stallone's classic Oscar-winning Rocky, this short film from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki is actually meant as a parody of the late Cold War-era Rocky IV, which saw Stallone's character taking on a juiced-up Russian fighter played by Dolph Lundgren. In this 1986 send-up, Rock'y, played by Silu Seppala, goes head to head with Soviet Igor (Sakari Kuosmanen) and loses.

Tilinteko

Veikko Aaltonen

Juhani Niemelä, Esko Nikkari

Two men, Nieminen and Varjola, commit a mail van robbery. Varjola betrays his friend: shoots him and takes the loot. Nieminen is arrested, but he refuses to reveal his accomplice's name. On his first leave on prison Nieminen finds Varjola in a small town, where he has became the mayor. Varjola, of course, is shocked to see his old friend again.

Naisenkuvia

Jörn Donner

Jörn Donner, Ritva Vepsä

Finnish porn movie producer Pertsa returns from America to his home country to continue his profession with hopelessly small budgets and incompetent casts and crews. A self-ironic satire about director Donner's scandalous fame in late 1960s Finland, notorious for a graphic long shot of his penis pointing northeast.

Viimeiset rotannahat

Anssi Mänttäri

Kauko Laurikainen, Sarina Röhr

Anssi Mänttäri’s low-budget movies with their intimate content have become classics. In this black comedy that takes place in Helsinki in summer the main character (played by Mänttäri himself) jumps from one bar and bed to the next. Especially vulgar black humour.

Nuoruus vauhdissa

Valentin Vaala

Lasse Liemola, Laila Kinnunen

Laila and Lasse are two teenagers dreaming about careers as singers. Lasse's brother Rami dreams about motorbike racing and dates a pretty blond Anjukka. Her father works in the hot new field of TV advertising, which might be a good route to stardom for Laila and Lasse. But then Anjukka sets her eyes on Lasse and Rami sets his on Laila, and many a popular hit melody is sung in between.

Tunteita

Leena Salokangas, Asko Tolonen

Pekka Sahenkari, Pirkko Jalava