Suomi-Filmi

A documentary from Erkki Karu, one of the earliest pioneers of Finnish cinema: This government-produced propaganda film introduces the nature, sports, military, agriculture and capital of Finland.

Based on Finnish mythology; Lemminkäinen woos the fair Annikki and battles the evil witch Louhi. Louhi kidnaps Annikki to compel her brother to build for her a Sampo, a magical device that creates salt, grain, and gold. When Lemminkäinen fails to recover the Sampo, Louhi steals the sun, plunging the world into frozen darkness.

In Eastern Finland, in Liperi to be exact, Anna-Liisa Ihalainen asks her husband Antti to get some matches from the Ihalainen household. Unfortunately that trip takes a little longer than expected...

The romantic musical comedy Kaikki rakastavat is a key work in Finnish film history since it was the first feature film of Valentin Vaala as the house director of Suomi-Filmi and the film which launched the most beloved screen couple of Finland, Tauno Palo and Ansa Ikonen.

This Finlandia Survey compilation ranges from 1949 to 1961, and in it we get to see glimpses of news from both local matches and early international matches. The brave Finns play against the infamous Soviet Red Machine, Canada, and a team of journalists.

Teacher's daughter Anna cannot enter the music college because of her family's opposition. At the request of her relatives she goes to Helsinki to study administrative sciences, but nasty fellow students make the girl leave the university and apply to become a nurse.

A young woman leaving the city for the countryside encounters the concept of voluntary work - new to her. She eventually does good, and charms the employer at the same time.

A story set over one night in a small rural community we watch various relationships and actions among local people; these include birth, death, and conflicts fuelled by alcohol. The fates of various characters become interlaced over a long and light-filled summer night in the Finnish countryside. Lumberjacks, a deer-eyed young man Nokia, a family of poor farmers, a young girl and her lover. New life is born, old life dies, man is slain in his prime, and his widow continues her life.

A couple move to an isolated house where – according to local legend – an ancient curse is rumoured to assail its inhabitants. Based on the novel by Väino Kataja (1914).

Eetu, a wealthy homeowner, attempts to seduce Leena Kosken. But when austere log boy Erkki meets her at midsummer dances, Leena falls in love with him instead. Jealous, Eetu turns the men of the village against Erkki and the Tukki people.

The film starts at the countryside, where station master Viirimäki is spending his summer holiday. He has gotten into the holiday mood to the extent that he wakes up from his stupor at the very moment he should already be getting back to work. Unfortunately the last ship from the island where he has been vacationing has already sailed, but as luck would have it, local residents Himanen and Kehkonen promise to help him out. Things turn out differently, however, and the attempt to help starts out an adventure filled with misunderstandings and plot twists.

Esko makes a bet that he will marry the first young woman he encounters. This turns out to be Kirsti, who promptly turns down the proposals. But when she finds about the bet, she agrees to marry him in order to get her revenge.

“Tukkijoella” (Log River – 1928). Films of this genre gave the Finnish cinema and the viewing public one of its most popular characters – the lumberjack (tukkijatka, tukkipoika, tukkilainen) who at his most heroic hour becomes the log-roller or the shooter of rapids (koskenlaskija). The significance of this character in Finnish film is comparable to that of the Cowboy on American cinema. He is the pioneer, the wanderer, the adventurer. He negotiates the frontier, he is an embodiment of the conflict between wilderness and civilization.