Ukonvaaja (2016)
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Tale of a Lake is a film about the thousands of lakes that Finland is known for. It takes the viewers on an unprecedented adventure, ranging from the crystal clear springs all the way to the basins of the big lakes. It opens a whole new world of underwater nature for the viewers, and tells about the many old tales and beliefs in the land of thousands of lakes. The story of the film is told through tales that are based around the myths, legends and old beliefs that are part of the Finnish mythology.
The Winter War was an epic life and death struggle that changed the course of World War II, and saved a democracy. Fire and Ice documents this timeless story of courage against all odds by a people united to preserve their freedom.
The film is based on traditional Filipino folklore, and mentions creatures such as duwende (dwarfs), manananggal (winged, half-bodied vampires), aswang (blood-sucking monsters disguised as humans), kapre (tobacco-smoking giants).
A historical analysis of how groups such as the Naziâs may use language, symbols, and religious connotation in order to come to power. It raises questions that deserve in depth analysis and consideration. Questions include: Where do legends expand our thinking and where do they bury it? When does spiritual pursuit suddenly turn into fanaticism and violence? Last, have we as a society learned from our past, and if so have forgotten the lessons of the 20th Century? Are we now embarking on a new level only to learn the same old lessons about humanity again? In addressing these questions we are taken into the back drop of the history of Germany beginning in the late 1800âs through the late 20th Century at the eve of the 21st. âA society that does not take archetypes, myths, and symbols seriously will possibly be jumped by them from behind.â
Academy Award-winning director Michael Moore returns with what may be his most provocative and hilarious film yet: Moore tells the Pentagon to "stand down" â he will do the invading for America from now on.
The Punk Syndrome is a film about Finlandâs most kick-ass punk rock band, Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. The band members, Pertti, Kari, Toni and Sami, are mentally handicapped and they play their music with a lot of attitude and pride. We follow these professional musicians on their journey from obscurity to popularity. We watch them fight, fall in love and experience strong emotions. We witness long days in the recording studio and on tour. They laugh, cry, drink and fight over who gets to sit in the front on the tour bus. Then itâs time to make up and go talk to people in the audience and tell them how great their band is.
"Man in Red Bandana" is about Welles Remy Crowther, an extraordinary 9/11 hero. However, how his heroics became known is even more remarkable. Eight months after the disaster, his parents learned about how their son spent his last hour due to an ordinary object ... a red bandana. This revelation dramatically shifts their perspective on their loss. After hearing his remarkable story and how it unfolds, viewers will see how the actions of one man have touched 1,000s. This inspirational segment of the film depicts the unique, diverse and folklore ways that Welles is honored throughout the United States including in art, sports and song. Even President Barack Obama pays homage to this young man in the film. Our uplifting ending culminates in the revelation of a secret about Welles that can only be described as "perfect".
Reindeerspotting is a documentary film of a group of young guys living in Rovaniemi, Arctic Circle, dabbling in petty crime and hard drugs. One of them, Jani, has lost five years of his life and two fingers to his debotators. He wants to leave Lapland and his old life behind. Robbing a supermarket is a start for his getaway. A few years back a documentarist, Joonas Neuvonen, was a young men living on social welfare, using drugs on daily basis. He started to film his friends and their life. This is the story of Jani.
One of the greatest storytellers of our time, and arguably the greatest mythologist, Joseph Campbell spent most of his long, rich career explaining how ancient myths like the Heroâs Journey are relevant to modern life. In understanding the importance of myth as a vital, vibrant source of "mankindâs one great story," Campbell inspired others to embark on a quest for the meaning of myth in their own lives. This biographical portrait, filmed shortly before his death in 1987, follows Campbellâs personal questâa pathless journey of questioning, discovery, and ultimately of delight and joy in a life to which he said, "Yes."
ARMADILLO is an upfront account of growing cynicism and adrenaline addiction for young soldiers at war. Mads and Daniel are on their first mission in Helmand, Afghanistan. Their platoon is stationed in Camp Armadillo, right on the Helmand frontline, fighting tough battles against the Taliban. The soldiers are there to help the Afghan people, but as fighting gets tougher and operations increasingly hairy, Mads, Daniel and their friends become cynical, widening the gap between themselves and the Afghan civilisation. Mistrust and paranoia set in causing alienation and disillusion. Armadillo is a journey into the soldierâs mind and a unique film on the mythological story of man and war, staged in its contemporary version in Afghanistan.
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, greedy hangers-on⦠Wherever he roams, drama and catastrophe dog his footsteps. And everything is exposed in the headlines the next dayâ¦
"Vesku from Finland" is a film about Vesa-Matti Loiri alias Vesku, probably the most popular film and TV comedian in Finland. He has created a significant career also as a singer, performer, writer and as a sportsman. He has recorded several albums, from folk songs and couplets to tangos. Some of his recordings are based on the lyrics of Hermann Hesse or Eino Leino, the infamous Finnish poet. During his unique career he has played in more than 60 films and recorded 30 albums.
The end of a decade when the world was in crisis and inspiration and hope needed resurrecting, an influential duo released a masterpiece of popular music, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Through darkness and light, the album takes its listeners on an emotional ride echoing the era and one which continues to inspire an audience the world over 40 years later. Its symphonic hymn of a title track became an anthem for a generation. The Harmony Game tells the story behind what is widely considered Simon and Garfunkel's best work, Bridge Over Troubled Water. The influential duo's last studio album has its legacy shrouded in rock n' roll mythology with legendary tales of inspiration, innovation and separation. Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and their collaborators share the journey in their own words and reflect back on its impact 40 years later and includes never before seen film, photos and memorabilia.
In 1975 Dynamo Kiev became the first Soviet team to win a major European trophy. The teamâs rapid rise was remarkable and attributed to one man: Valeri Vasilievich Lobanovskyi. His technique as a manager is now the stuff of folklore - not least for his imposing a fitness regime so brutal that his players looked upon the matches themselves as relaxing.
WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger captures the sensational trial of infamous gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger, using the legal proceedings as a springboard to explore allegations of corruption within the highest levels of law enforcement. Embedded for months with Federal Prosecutors, retired FBI and State Police, victims, lawyers, gangsters and journalists, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger examines Bulger's relationship with the FBI and Department of Justice that allowed him to reign over a criminal empire in Boston for decades. Pulling back the curtain on long-held Bulger mythology, the film challenges conventional wisdom by detailing shocking, new allegations. With unprecedented access, Berlinger's latest crime documentary offers a universal tale of human frailty, opportunism, deception, and the often elusive nature of truth and justice.
Extraordinary images from Werner Herzog. Shot in the Australian Outback the Aborigines (in this film anyway) believe that this is the place where the green ants go to dream, and that if their dreams are disturbed, it will bring down disaster on us all. The Aborigines' belief is not shared by a giant mining company, which wants to tear open the soil and search for uranium.
The definitive zombie culture documentary, brought to the screen by the makers of THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS.
In 1988 20-year-old Kirsi Marie Liimatainen travels from Finland to the GDR, to study Marxism-Leninism at the International Youth Academy. In summer of´89 the course ends and the students spread out over the world.Afew months later, the Berlin Wall falls. 24 years later Kirsi, sets out on a cinematic journey to Nicaragua, South Africa, Chile, Bolivia, Lebanon, Germany and Finland to meet up once more with her former fellow students. What remains of their dream of the liberation of the oppressed?
Louis Malle called his gorgeous and groundbreaking Phantom India the most personal film of his career. And this extraordinary journey to India, originally shown as a miniseries on European television, is infused with his sense of discovery, as well as occasional outrage, intrigue, and joy.
Republic of Finland is promoting clean technology by organizing Green Mining seminars where foreign experts tell us how the development of the world is becoming increasingly expensive by 2050. The Earth is running out of resources and mining companies have to use increasingly low-grade metal deposits. Finland aims to be a model country for environmentally friendly mining. Its pioneer project is Talvivaara, which uses new biotechnology to extract nickel, zinc and uranium. Through several charismatic characters, the documentary film The Land Of Mine follows the rise of the biggest nickel mine in Western Europe and the ensuing disasters whose effects continue to reverberate in the nation.
In December 2016 a remarkable chapter in music history was closed as the Finnish punk rock band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (PKN) retired. Punk Voyage is a feature length documentary film about the last years of the band, with all the ups and downs included. After becoming celebrities in Finland, this incredible quartet continued to conquer new fans around the World. In its seven years run PKN played nearly 300 gigs in 16 countries. In 2015 the band was selected to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, where they played to over 100 million television spectators. However, the busy traveling and success created a lot of pressure within the band: Kari struggled with the temptations and responsibilities brought by publicity; Sami extended his territory to politics and religion; Toni's and the band's roadie Niila's crush to the the same girl caused conflicts; and Pertti, tired of this all, decided to retire.
A man at three disparate moments in his life: as a member of a fifteen-person collective on a small Estonian island, alone in the wilderness of Northern Finland and as the singer of a neo-pagan black metal band in Norway. Three moments for a radical proposition for the creation of utopia in the present.
The legend of Floripes, is about an enchanted moor of Olhão, in the Algarve. Enchanted moors are one of the cornerstones of Portuguese mythology. They are often seductive and being temptresses, they can offer a powerful reward, but also a terrible curse. Left in Portugal during the Reconquista while her family went back to North Africa, beautiful Floripes was condemned to roam her ancient kingdom in the Algarve until a man could undo her curse. Then she would marry him and give him her fabulous treasure. But if the man fails, she must eat his heart.
Film-makers and academics discuss the use of mythology in Star Wars and the impact of the films on society
In the days of the Mayas, cenotes â deep, natural pits on the Yucatan peninsula - provided the only means of obtaining drinking water. But in the mythology of this advanced civilisation, these waterholes and caves were also the entrance to Xibalba â the underworld
Jag Mandir is a quiet and often overlooked film in the vast oeuvre of Werner Herzog. Apparently, 20 hours of footage was shot that covered the whole fest and the film hardly presents us a twentieth of that. A native walking into the film in between may well fail to immediately realize that it is his country that is being shown and these are figures from the mythology of various sections of his nation.
Life and death of the last woman executed in Finland.
War and Peace of Mind explores what war does to the human mind and how both, the individuals and the nation as a whole, survive it psychologically. Finland and WWII, locally known as continuation war, is the backdrop of this documentary.
Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, The X-Men â characters recognized all over the world, and have gained even wider popularity through television and film. What may not be known is that, since the 1970âs, Filipinos have had a significant contribution in these and other charactersâ mythologies. In terms of comic book history, these creators are often left unaccredited or, at worse, neglected entirely for their accomplishments. âIllustrated Byâ: Filipino Invasion of U.S. Comics is a full-length documentary film tracing the phenomenon of Filipino comic artists breaking into the U.S. mainstream. The movie aims to pay tribute to many of these ignored, unacknowledged talents, and showcase their gorgeous artwork.
While studying myths, and writing on the human experience, Joseph Campbell was a professor at Sarah Lawrence College for 38 years. His seminal work, "A Hero with a Thousand Faces" was published in 1949 and greatly influenced generations of artists and writers, including Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Jerry Garcia and others. Rooted in deeply personal accounts and timeless stories, FINDING JOE shows how Campbell's work is relevant and essential in today's world and how it provides a narrative for how to live a fully realized life-or as Campbell would simply state, how to "follow your bliss".
The First part of Olympia, a documentary about the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin by German Director Leni Riefenstahl. The film played in theaters in 1938 and again in 1952 after the fall of the Nazi Regime.
It's the eve of Christmas in northern Finland and an "archeological" dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn't the one you want coming to town. When all the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. Santa's elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare - a fantastically bizarre polemic on modern day morality. RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE is a re-imagining of the most classic of all childhood fantasies, and is a darkly comic gem soon to be required perennial holiday viewing.
Fantasy adventure depicting the famous Eight Immortals of Taoist mythology.
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, the long-time president of the Republic of Finland, is scheduled to visit Alliâs Bar on his way to northern Finland. He is blindly worshiped and the nearer the visit draws, the more envy, competition and dirty tricks come to bear in this small town setting. No one is spared the brutality!
A folklore professor becomes unwittingly possessed by the ancient Japanese demons of Thunder and Lightning. But when The Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense dispatches a team of agents to investigate, a cursed samurai sword sends Hellboy to a supernatural dimension of ghosts, monsters, and feudal mayhem. Now while pyrokinetic Liz Sherman and fishboy Abe Sapien battle one very pissed-off dragon, a lost and cranky Hellboy must find his way home.
In Ancient Greece in the land far away, when people read Greek mythology came the time of legend â the greatest son of Zeus â Hercules. Hercules was once destined to be the King of Mycenae as his father Zeus had planned but his jealous stepmother Hera had other plans.
This special-effects laden film is based upon an episode from the Ramayana. Indrajit, son of Ravan, initiates an attack on Rama (Mane) and Lakshmana (Kulkarni) in which they are captured by Mahi (Kelkar). They escape with the assistance of Rama's disciple, the monkey-god Hanuman (Manajirao). The narrative foregrounds Chandrasena (Tarkhad), wife of Mahi, who reveres Rama but disapproves of the bacchanalian orgies and the celebration of liquor that is the norm in his kingdom. She helps resolve the stalemate of the battle when Mahi (who can duplicate himself and his dead soldiers) proves invincible, by revealing the secret formula that will kill her husband. In addition to the usual flying figures and magic arrows mandatory for a Ramayana mythological, there is an effective scene of a gigantic Hanuman picking up a miniaturized human figure.
September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish sniper-kamikadze Veikko managed to set himself free. Ivan, a captain of the Soviet Army, arrested by the Front Secret Police 'Smersh', has a narrow escape. They are soldiers of the two enemy armies. A Lapp woman Anni gives a shelter to both of them at her farm. For Anni they are not enemies, but just men.
Asuka, a woman in her thirties, works in a lakeside fish factory. Sheâs about to be married to her boss, Taki. But one day, she encounters a kappa â a water sprite found in Japanese folklore â and learns that the creature is in fact the reborn form of Aoki, an old crush whoâd drowned to death when they were 17.
The movie is about Sita, the Hindu Goddess from the epic "The Ramayana", who accompanies Lord Rama on a 14 year exile in forest. Sita is abducted by Ravana, the ruler of Lanka. This movie tells the story of Rama and Sita, along-with a biographical account of the director's relationship with her husband. It intersperses events from the Ramayana, light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets, musical interludes voiced with archival tracks by Annette Hanshaw and scenes from the artist's own life. The ancient mythological and modern biographical plot are parallel tales, sharing numerous themes.
A former British spy stumbles into in a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom?
Written in 1931, H.P. Lovecraft's iconic genre-bending tale of suspense and alien terrors is brought to life in the style of the classic horror films of the 1930s like Frankenstein, Dracula and King Kong. Using its Mythoscope⢠process â a mix of vintage and modern techniques â the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society expands on Lovecraft's original tale while still bringing you unparalleled authenticity.
Horror and science fiction collide in the adventure of Albert Wilmarth, a folklore professor at Miskatonic University, as he investigates legends of strange creatures rumored to dwell in the most remote mountains of Vermont. Wilmarthâs investigation leads him to a discovery of horrors quite beyond anything he ever imagined, and ends in a desperate attempt to escape the remote New England hills with his life and sanity intact.
In this melange of characters and events from separate mythological stories, Hercules, demigod and superman, arrives in the ancient Greek kingdom of Iolcus to tutor Iphitus, son of king Pelias; immediately on arrival, he falls in love with the king's delectable, briefly clad daughter Iole. Before he can win her, he must succeed in a series of quests, in the course of which he teams up with Jason, true heir of Iolcus, whom he accompanies on the famous voyage of the Argonauts.
Hannes is a beer-truck driver in Dortmund. His biggest dream is to win the first prize at the International Time-Table Contest in Inari (Finland). When his new boss cancels his extra holidays to go there, Hans goes mad... On his journey to Finland by train, followed by the police, he meets lot of folks and the love of his life.
An urban family inherits an old country house located in a small village. Upon their arrival they try to adapt to the new lifestyle, but they soon learn that the village is overshadowed by superstition and mysterious folklore. As they are plagued by strange events, they learn more about the history of their family, and slowly begin to believe by inheriting the house, they also inherited a curse.
Russia attacked Finland in late November 1939. This film tells the story of a Finnish platoon of reservists from the municipality of Kauhava in the province of Pohjanmaa/Ostrobothnia who leave their homes and go to war. The film focuses on the farmer brothers Martti and Paavo Hakala.
When military experiments go haywire and trigger an atomic bomb, the consequences are of epic proportions. A monster arrives in the midst of the nuclear fallout, and Japan's defenses are helpless against it. Mankind's only savior is an irradiated water goblin from Japanese folklore called the "Death Kappa". The two rival monsters must go head-to-head in the ultimate battle between good and evil!
In this spiritual thriller, an ancient prophecy is about to be fulfilled as a secret code brings the world to the edge of Apocalypse. Gillen Lane (Casper Van Dien) is a expert on theology and mythology who has gained international fame as a motivational speaker.
Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free on inhabitations. His work â made famous by his signature âTom of Finlandâ â became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.
Aaron, a young misfit living in a remote Scottish fishing community, is the lone survivor of a strange fishing accident that claimed the lives of five men including his older brother. Spurred on by sea-going folklore and local superstition, the village blames Aaron for this tragedy, making him an outcast amongst his own people. Steadfastly refusing to believe that his brother has died, he sets out to recover him and the rest of men.
"Dayo" follows the adventure of 11-year-old Bubuy as he tries to save his grandparents who have been abducted and brought to Elementalia, a mysterious and magical land that is home to popular creatures of Philippine mythology.
An old monastery in a small, remote village in Suffolk, England has been haunted by a local legend for centuries. Left in ruin and shrouded by the mystery of a dark spirit that wills young couples to suicide, the place has been avoided for years, marked only by a twisted, ancient tree with an ominous hollow said to be the home of great evil. When four friends on holiday explore the local folklore, they realize that belief in a myth can quickly materialize into reality, bringing horror to life for the town.
Tim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist, finds himself in a predicament when his dog stumbles upon the mask of Loki. Then after conceiving an infant son "born of the mask", he discovers just how looney child raising can be.
943: Nine-year-old Eero whose father is killed during the war is brought to Sweden to foster parents to his protection like thousands of other Finnish children. Eero feels lost, particularly as his foster mother Signe behaves very unfriendly. She was expecting a little girl and still mourns for her daughter who drowned in the sea.
Folklore collectors and con artists, Jake and Will Grimm, travel from village to village pretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures and performing exorcisms. They are put to the test, however, when they encounter a real magical curse in a haunted forest with real magical beings, requiring genuine courage.
Hugo is a brilliant turn-of-the-century scientist, loved and respected by his family and friends, admired by his colleagues. But he is a man quickly becoming obsessed with a curious and frightening question... what is the mysterious apparition found in the photographs of his dying subjects? Hugo brings to a family boating party his newest invention-a motion picture camera. The party quickly turns into a disaster as he captures on film the tragic drowning of his wife and son. When the film is replayed later, the same ghostlike presence appears. It flies towards his son, and vanishes inside his dying body. Has Hugo discovered The Asphyx, the spirit of the dead described in Greek mythology? A spirit which lives in constant agony, not finding rest until it takes possession of a human body? Could the spirit, if captured, become the key to immortality? Hugo is compelled to find the answers. It is a ghoulish search, with eternally haunting results.Written by James C. Allen
Where are we welcome? On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites her to stay with her, and meets Masako, a formal and ethereal middle-aged woman whose luggage has gone missing. The three women work in the diner, interact, and serve customers. A somewhat brusque man teaches Sachie to make delicious coffee, then he returns under other circumstances. Three neighborhood women inspect the empty diner every day; will anything bring them inside? The number of customers gradually increases, but the diner seems to attract only those with problems. Conversation with Sachie and the tasty food seem to resolve people's woes. We learn why Sachie serves rice balls; but why Finland?
The film is based on Russian heroic legends and folklore. In a tall mansion, the beautiful Marya Morevna is waiting for her bridegroom, the mighty warrior Nikita Kozhemyaka. The longed-for meeting may happen any minute, but all of a sudden the Russian land is invaded by the armies of Kashchei the Immortal that bring destruction and death. Marya Morevna is abducted, and Nikita Kozhemyaka finds just ashes on the site of his home. But thanks to a kindly wizard who gave him a cap of darkness, the hero will find a way to rescue his bride and rout Kashchei.
Adèle and her daughter Sarah are traveling on the Welsh coastline to see her husband James when Sarah disappears. A different but similar looking girl appears who says she died in a past time. Adèle tries to discover what happened to her daughter as she is tormented by Celtic mythology from the past.
A romantic suspense-comedy about CIA agent Harry (Bill Pullman) and SVR agent Natasha (Irene Jacob) fighting to save the world, their lives and secret love in the post cold war Helsinki
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