Finland

The story of Finnish punk rock band Apulanta.Read More »

Eden is a coming-of-age film about a Protestant Confirmation camp on a summer’s week, set in the archipelago of Helsinki. Aliisa is the intellectually confident non-believer, Jenna is the queen bee and Panu is the scared bird. The experience of these teenagers is affected by Tiina, a young and eager priest.Read More »

Since 1969, masters of cinema have shown their films at the legendary Midnight Sun Film Festival and talked about their art. With choice moments from several hundred hours of these talks, von Bagh created a heavenly symposium on cinema as the most decent way to walk the earth.Read More »

The return of the son of the film, a thirtysomething Selja (Ylipää) as a young childless mixed with the adopting of everyday life, which is built on work, friends, and relationships around it.Read More »

O Tasqueiro is a somewhat forgotten Aki Kaurismäki short. Originally shot in 2012, then released for the first time in a TV showing in 2018, this dialogue-free short chronicles the tragic and comedic life of a barkeep in an old Portuguese village, attempting to find love and keep up with the changing times. All of this is showcased in the trademark Kaurismäki style, with visual flair and melancholy.Read More »

A Gothic romance directed by Valentin Vaala, based on a 1880 novella by Zachris Topelius.

Peter von Bagh’s essay on the film from Suomalaisen elokuvan kultainen kirja (“The Golden Book of Finnish Cinema”, 1992), with some additions:Read More »

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Concrete Night is a dream-like odyssey through beautiful Helsinki over the course of one night. The protagonist of the film is a 14-year-old boy named Simo who is still searching for a sense of self and the ability to protect himself from his surroundings. He lacks his own identity. Simo and his big brother Ilkka are the sons of a helpless and unpredictable single mother. Their chaotic home is located deep in the heart of a concrete jungle in Helsinki. Ilkka has one day of freedom left before starting his prison sentence. The mother persuades Simo to spend the last night with his brother.Read More »

“Eight Deadly Shots is perhaps the most nuanced picture of the working of the economic system in the history of our cinema: a close-up of a man up against the wall, at the most basic level of breathing.”
–Peter von Bagh, Kansan UutisetRead More »

Single mother name Pike who, having just been released from prison, is trying to start her news life anew. When her former boyfriend Lalli come back from abroad, it open a window into her past that Pike want to put behind her.Read More »