Finland - Best International Feature Film
Finnish submissions for the Oscars for Best International Feature Film
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- DirectorRauni MollbergStarsMaritta ViitamäkiPauli JauhojärviAimo SaukkoA young woman has an intense affair with a womanizing reindeer herdsman.
- DirectorPirjo HonkasaloPekka LehtoStarsAsko SarkolaRea MauranenKari FranckThe life of early-20th-century author, journalist, and revolutionary Algot Untola (also known as Maiju Lassila, Irmari Rantamala, and several more pseudonyms), one of the most enigmatic figures in Finnish literature. Different time levels are mixed in the film to give it an equally enigmatic structure. Untola lives periods of his life in the Finnish countryside as a teacher, then in St. Petersburg as a businessman; he also becomes a Socialist, then dies during the Finnish Civil War in 1918.
- DirectorJaakko PakkasvirtaStarsEsko SalminenIrina MilanTom WentzelFollows several Finnish officers and soldiers during World War II, mainly in the Finnish headquarters.
- DirectorHeikki PartanenStarsEija AhvoRiitta-Anneli ForssRaimo GrönbergThe fairy Illusia and the goblin Pessi meet. Pessi, who has only recently become independent, is a member of the Pessimists' family. They are proud of their practical and sensible attitude to life. Illusia's father, on the other hand, is Mr Illusioni, a famous visionary living on a rainbow.
- DirectorRauni MollbergStarsRisto TuorilaPirkka-Pekka PeteliusPaavo LiskiThis film is the second silver screen adaption of the Finnish war book by Väinö Linna with the same name as the film. The story is based on Linna's experiences as an infantry man in the Finnish army during the so called "Continuation War" (1941-1944). The film tells the story of the fate of a machine gun platoon made up of young conscripts from various parts of Finland fighting against the Russian army from the beginning (summer 1941) to the end (summer/autumn 1944) of the war. Many of the characters are based on author Linna's brothers in arms.
- DirectorPäivi HartzellStarsSatu SilvoOuti VainionkulmaSebastian KaatrasaloIn this adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's longest story, the beautiful Snow Queen has captured two children and now keeps them apart. She has inserted a sliver of her own special ice into the eye of the boy, so that his heart will turn to ice and will be a proper match for hers. The boy's sister, meanwhile, has won free and attempts to find her brother. When she does, the warmth of her love for him melts his frozen heart and defeats the Snow Queen decisively.
- DirectorPekka ParikkaStarsTaneli MäkeläVesa VierikkoTimo TorikkaIn 1939, two Finnish brothers are conscripted in the army to fight in the war between Finland and the Soviet Union.
- DirectorChristian LindbladStarsSam HuberMari VainioMerja LarivaaraA week-long glimpse into the wretched existence of Ripa, a long-haired, hard-drinking lug. He is also a wannabe filmmaker whose last two projects were condemned for their sex and violence. A Parasite Deluxe who barely recalls his previous night, Ripa cruises the bars and meets bank-teller Tiina.
- DirectorMarkku PölönenStarsMartti SuosaloHenrika AnderssonMatti VarjoPekka returns to his native village to attend a wedding. The village has lost its younger generations, and the movie tells the story of the last wedding in the village.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsKati OutinenKari VäänänenElina SaloThe recession hits a couple in Helsinki.Disqualified
- DirectorAuli MantilaStarsLeea KlemolaElina HurmeRea MauranenEevi's life isn't going the way she would want it to, so she runs away, leaving destruction in her wake. No one will ever say no to her again.
- DirectorMarkku PölönenStarsPertti KoivulaSimo KontioEsko NikkariTopi's mother, who is also Tenho's wife dies and Tenho and Topi have to move out from the town because they don't have enough money to pay their rent. Tenho gets a job as a lumberjack (which by the way is the title in Finnish). The movie tells the story about Tenho and his 10 years old son who both have to grow up in the same summer.
- DirectorAleksi MäkeläStarsSamuli EdelmannJuha VeijonenTeemu LehtiläHäjyt tells a story of two friends who have a hard time finding their place in the society. Antti and Jussi are released from jail. While they were doing time for bank robbery, the third man involved in the robbery, the one who was not convicted, has become a policeman. He tries to help his friends to settle into the small town in Pohjanmaa, but the boys start a black market liquor business instead. The road seems to lead back to the jail.
- DirectorAnastasia LapsuiMarkku LehmuskallioStarsAnatoli HudiIgor HudiTajuda HudiSeven Songs of the Tundra takes place amidst the infinite white tundra, where a small religious cult sacrifices a reindeer. A ceremonial song accompanies the sacrifice, triggering a narrative divided into seven chapters, which re-enacts a pivotal point in the Nenets natives' history. Deprived of their independence and prosperity, the nomadic reindeer breeders were ostracized from their homeland and asked to abandon not only their language and traditions but also their children that were forced to enroll in boarding schools.
- DirectorJarmo LampelaStarsSanna HietalaAntti IkkalaJyri OjansivuEpisodic study of feelings where six stories intertwine over one Saturday in a small town. Two boys save a young woman, Anni, and her baby from suicide by drowning. Esa, a down-on-his-luck musician in need of a loan, arrives to his father's 60th birthday party. Waitress Leena tries to stir up a romance between her co-workers at a pizza parlor. Middle-aged Ilpo comes home early from the paper mill and finds a strange man in their bedroom. Old Milja waits for her daughter Merja at the hospital where she is visiting her terminally ill husband Henri. Teenage Santeri tries to cope with his homosexuality.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsMarkku PeltolaKati OutinenAnnikki TähtiM arrives in Helsinki only to be viciously attacked by thugs and pronounced dead by medics. He revives but with no memory of his past or his identity. He rebuilds his life from scratch, but the past inevitably catches up with him.Nominated
- DirectorKlaus HäröStarsNatalie MinnevikBibi AnderssonMarjaana MaijalaElina is sinking in the quicksand and she is going under and she got the white thing on her hair.
- DirectorAleksi SalmenperäStarsMinna HaapkyläKari-Pekka ToivonenMinttu MustakallioLongtime couple Venla and Antero come to a serious impasse: After years with Antero, Venla wants to start a family, but her boyfriend, worried that parenthood will stifle his speed-skating career, secretly gets a vasectomy. Determined to have a child, Venla seeks help from a female fertility doctor, a decision that breeds new possibilities for the prospective mother when she falls in love with the doctor.
- DirectorKlaus HäröStarsTopi MajaniemiMarjaana MaijalaMaria LundqvistDuring World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to neutral Sweden to avoid the conflict. From the award-winning Klaus Härö (Elina: As If I Wasn't There (2002)), "Mother of Mine" tackles that painful patch of history in a tale of 9-year-old Eero, a child who increasingly feels abandoned by his biological Finnish mother and yet not attached to his Swedish surrogate mom. When he is returned to Finland, his confusion intensifies.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsJanne HyytiäinenMaria JärvenhelmiMaria HeiskanenIn Helsinki, a lonely night watchman is caught up in a series of misadventures with a femme fatale and a crooked businessman.Withdrawn
- DirectorAleksi SalmenperäStarsTommi KorpelaMaria HeiskanenJani VolanenUnemployed man forgets his dignity to support his family.
- DirectorDome KarukoskiStarsNiilo SyväojaTommi KorpelaKristiina HalttuA boy is sent to Saari, an isolated island and home to a home for troubled boys, where he falls in love with the daughter of the school's superintendent.
- DirectorKlaus HäröStarsKaarina HazardHeikki NousiainenJukka KeinonenWith few options, newly pardoned convict Leila agrees to work as an assistant to a blind pastor. Father Jacob spends his days answering the letters of the needy, which Leila finds pointless. But when the letters stop, the pastor is devastated and Leila finds herself cast in a new role.
- DirectorJoonas BerghällMika HotakainenStarsTimo AaltoPekka AhonenAarne AksilaFinnish men in sauna, speaking straight from the heart.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsAndré WilmsBlondin MiguelJean-Pierre DarroussinWhen an African boy arrives by cargo ship in the port city of Le Havre, an aging shoe shiner takes pity on the child and welcomes him into his home.
- DirectorAntti J. JokinenStarsLaura BirnLiisi TandefeltAmanda PilkeA tormented young woman is given a hiding place by an elderly lady and soon they are reminded of their mutual horrendous past.
- DirectorUlrika BengtsStarsErik EngePatrik KumpulainenNiklas GroundstroemIn 1939 the 13-year-old Carl arrives at the lighthouse Lågskär in the Åland Islands, for a position as lighthouse disciple. He is trained by the demanding lighthouse keeper.
- DirectorPirjo HonkasaloStarsJohannes BrotherusJari VirmanAnneli KarppinenA fourteen-year-old boy in a stifling Helsinki slum takes some unwise life lessons from his soon-to-be-incarcerated older brother.
- DirectorKlaus HäröStarsMärt AvandiUrsula RataseppHendrik Toompere Jr.Fleeing from the Russian secret police, a young Estonian fencer is forced to return to his homeland, where he becomes a physical education teacher at a local school. The past however catches up and puts him in front of a difficult choice.December Shortlist
- DirectorJuho KuosmanenStarsJarkko LahtiOona AirolaEero MilonoffThe true story of Olli Mäki, the famous Finnish boxer who had a shot at the 1962 World Featherweight title.
- DirectorDome KarukoskiStarsPekka StrangSeumas F. SargentChris MylandAward-winning filmmaker Dome Karukoski brings to screen the life and work of artist Touko Valio Laaksonen (aka Tom of Finland), one of the most influential and celebrated figures of 20th-century gay culture.
- DirectorTeemu NikkiStarsMatti OnnismaaJari VirmanHannamaija NikanderA man who euthanizes animals as a side job runs afoul of a white supremacist.
- DirectorSelma VilhunenStarsJere RistseppäRosa HonkonenVille HaapasaloA teenage couple deals with an unexpected pregnancy while racial tensions mount in their neighborhood.
- DirectorZaida BergrothStarsAlma PöystiKrista KosonenShanti RoneyDepiction on the life of Tove Jansson, showing both her personal relationships, and the creation of the popular Moomin books.
- DirectorJuho KuosmanenStarsSeidi HaarlaYura BorisovDinara DrukarovaAs a train weaves its way up to the arctic circle, two strangers share a journey that will change their perspective on life.Shortlist
- DirectorAlli HaapasaloStarsAamu MilonoffEleonoora KauhanenLinnea LeinoThree young women try to defy the persistent winter darkness in Finland. In the process, they move between dreams, reality, friendship and relationships, and try to make sense of the whole mess.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsAlma PöystiJussi VatanenJanne HyytiäinenIn modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles - from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.Shortlist