Kati Outinen

Tadek, a Polish detective, becomes suspicious of a controversial author when the incidents described in his unpublished novel resemble the inner workings of an unsolved murder.

Trying to escape her broken past, Sarah O’Neill is building a new life on the fringes of a backwood rural town with her young son Chris. A terrifying encounter with a mysterious neighbour shatters her fragile security, throwing Sarah into a spiralling nightmare of paranoia and mistrust, as she tries to uncover if the disturbing changes in her little boy are connected to an ominous sinkhole buried deep in the forest that borders their home.

In the French harbor city of Le Havre, an elderly shoeshiner with an ailing wife crosses paths with a young African refugee pursued by the police for deportation.

A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.

Two strangers have dropped their kids off at a pickup area for a children's camp in Helsinki, Finland. A spark of mutual interest is ignited between the man and woman.

In a multicultural suburb of Helsinki, a bullied Russian immigrant decides to fight back, a young woman dreams of superstardom at any cost, and a junkie couple schemes their way out of debt.

Arriving in Helsinki, a nameless man is beaten within an inch of his life by thugs, miraculously recovering only to find that he has completely lost his memory. Back on the streets, he attempts to begin again from zero, befriending a moody dog and becoming besotted with a Salvation Army volunteer.

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. Falteringly, a bond begins to develop between them.

Iris is a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a match factory, who dreams of finding love at the local dancehall. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge.

Rakel is a strict Christian believer living in the far north of 1930s Sweden. When her husband forms a sectarian movement, with directions straight from God, she has no choice but to join the increasingly explicit cult.

Outcast by his co-workers and living alone, Koistinen is a security guard who works the night shift in a luxury shopping mall in Helsinki. But when icy blonde Mirja approaches him, the lonely Koistinen falls helplessly for her, unaware she is manipulating him for her criminal boyfriend.

CIA Agent Harry Howe and SVR Agent Natasha Scriabina team up to save the world, their lives and secret love in post Cold War Helsinki.

It is 1595. Brutal wars have just ended in an uneasy peace between Protestant Sweden and Orthodox Russia. We focus on the spiritual defeats of two conquered Finnish brothers, one a hardened near-psychopathic war hero, the other a gentle scientist in an age with no use for such men. They find themselves in the swampy interior, demarcating the new border with a unit of sadistic Russians.

Siblings Lumi and Talvi are separated as children. In search of her sister, Lumi ends up in Elfland, where elves prepare Christmas presents for all the children of the world. The elves are initially suspicious of the human child who appears out of nowhere, but Pyry, an elf boy, welcomes Lumi with interest. Pyry is eager for new adventures and his friendship with Lumi looks like a chance for an exciting journey.

Snot and Splash travel to their grandmother's house in the small town of Mouthwash for a winter holiday. Once there, they discover that everything is a little off in what used to be a very ordinary town. The strangest thing is that holes are disappearing from the town. Snot and Splash set out to investigate and manage to get on the trail of a local dentist, Migrén Junior. However, the investigation is in danger of failing when messy Snot and diligent Splash get into an argument with each other. How can Mouthwash be restored and the holes put back in place if the boys can't work together? The only way to restore the world is for the brothers to work together.

The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they must hit the streets of Helsinki, facing up to hardship and humiliation in their quest for survival, guided through the gloom by a ray of hope.

The kidnapping of a plump billionaire's dog by a deaf-mute and 2 ketamine addicts goes wrong. The wealthy woman takes advantage of the situation to make them fullfil her last wishes.

Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films entitled The Trumpet and The Cello. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the Millennium. Fifteen celebrated film-makers were invited to create their own vision of what time means in ten minutes of film.

A political drama set in the fictional country of Illyria between 1943 and 1945, the story is about the assassination of a leading politician. The country, an ally of Nazi Germany, is on the verge of being annexed to the Eastern Bloc. Kaurismäki's TV adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's play Les Mains Sales (Dirty Hands) tells the story of Hugo (Matti Pellonpää) who has just been released from prison. Before going to prison, he has worked as a journalist at his party's newspaper. This timid journalist, who uses the pseudonym Raskolnikov, wants to advance in his career and gets his chance when Hoederer (Sulevi Peltola), the leader of the party, has to be eliminated.

The story recounts the breakup of a thirty-something professional couple - Juhani, a family therapist, and his wife, Tuula, a successful business trainer.

A portrait of film actor Kari Väänänen. Väänänen talks openly about his work and himself. Väänänen's colleagues in "Tuntematon Sotilas" and "Lakeuden Kutsu" shed light on the actor's inner life.

Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.

Family Stories Untold is an animated documentary, in which seven different women’s stories about family are woven into one life-long piece. It begins with Iida, 9, who after her parents’ nasty divorce helps Mummy find a new man on Tinder, and ends with Lisbeth, who has been forced into a retirement home by her children. It’s a story about a life in which we don’t have the courage to voice our opinions, desires and expectations.

A film group is making movie in the little town. Writer Pentti Töysä interrupts film group's press conference and claims that script is written by him and it is based on true story. Töysä also says that he has written a new ending to the movie and that it reveals an old murder. Not everyone is happy about the new twist.

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

A human-sized story about an old-fashioned man.

Two Finnish men agree to drive an Estonian woman and a Russian woman to a harbor.

A Finnish adaptation of Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

When Hamlet discovers his father’s deceased body, he finds himself pulled into a power struggle as his scheming uncle attempts to secure a monopoly on the Scandinavian rubber duck industry. Will Hamlet avenge his father? Will he become the king of rubber ducks? Does any of it really matter?

No Dot on the I questions specificity, what makes up the essence of something, where a thing turns into something else — pushing against the edges of signs, binaries, categories.

An ageing wrestler and circus strongman is put in an institution located somewhere in a world of its own.

A renowned art forger is trying to finish his version of a Lichtenstein painting but he can’t find any peace. He is visited by his mother a once famous actress of the Nouvelle Vague, her former husband a destroyed auteur, a greedy art dealer, and his ex lover a down and out junkie.

Haunted by his traumatic past and cautious about the prospects of an uncertain future, a fourteen year old boy named Juhani winds up in an isolated boys' home known as The Island. Juhani has been shuttled between foster homes and temporary families for the past six years, leaving any prospect of stability in his life a faded dream. When Juhani winds up in a remote shelter for troubled youth known as The Island, he has little idea of how ruthless superintendent Olavi Harjula can truly be.

Poetic short film

Saara falls in love with their employer's wife.

Irma arrives at her 18th birthday in a reform school.

This is a sad story of Eros and Psyche. Sadder than the ancient myth that was only a dream after all. In my story, the characters learn nothing.

A wife who has cheated on her husband for 40 years reflects on her behaviour and the benefits she has reaped.

Hannes is a beer truck driver in Dortmund. His biggest dream is to win the first prize at the International Timetable 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.

A typically idiosyncratic mini-mystery about a middle-aged man who gets out of prison, sells his shares in a company and announces that he’s heading off to Siberia to get married. Central scene, in which he convinces a woman to come with him, takes place in a Finnish rockabilly club. The Hitchcockian pacing, as the man endeavours to make his train, supplies nice momentum, and wrap-up provides a satisfying revelation as to what’s actually afoot.

Once a hugely popular clown trio, Oskar, Max, and Viktor are now living very different lives. The intense fight that ended their friendship has left them on bad terms for over 40 years. Max is battling colon cancer, Viktor's wife is losing a battle to Alzheimer's, and Oskar, who's never been the best dad, is trying to rescue his daughter from an abusive relationship. The good old days are gone indeed. Despite their situations, each one still tries to maintain a sense of humor. They look fondly on the days when they were slapstick superstars. However, when it comes to the issues that led to their career demise, they just can't seem to let their anger go. As they hesitantly agree to a reunion, they begin to find that the only way back to the top is through forgiveness.

Aki Kaurismäki, the celebrated Finnish filmmaker behind The Man Without a Past (Grand Prix du Jury, Cannes Film Festival 2002) and landmark works including Ariel, Leningrad Cowboys Go America, and Drifting Clouds, is the focus of AKI KAURISMÄKI, the latest release in the Cinema, of Our Time series. The younger half of Finland’s most prolific and irreverent filmmaking partnership, Kaurismäki, alongside his brother Mika Kaurismäki, was instrumental in shaping what became known as the New Finnish Cinema. Since 1981, he has directed twenty-two films, many of which are featured through excerpts in this documentary.

The birthday of twin boys, Mökö and Luru, takes the family Kiljunen to Helsinki, where their dog gets accidentally switched with the president's dog. Mökö and Luru rush to save their dog, while mother and father Kiljunen take over the city from land, sea and air.

Self-taught philosopher Konsta Pylkkänen guides a group of researchers through Finland's Kainuu wilderness in the hopes of having a "sinistä ajatusta", idea out of the blue. While firing upon a hybrid of the hazel grouse and the western capercaillie, kinds of birds, he indeed makes a scientific discovery.

The Helsinki-based teenagers Ippe, Papu and Mia have become entangled in drug circles. Their problems get even worse when violent dealer Kalle starts blackmailing the indebted Ippe.

Based on powerful archival material documenting the most daring moments in the struggle for liberation in the Third World, this documentary is accompanied by classic text from The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon.

The years have passed and the children have flown from the nest to the world... except they haven't. On the contrary. Jonna and Junnu have been lured back home, with the addition of Jonna's child, by a house that will soon be empty. The parents, who are of retirement age, are about to move to Spain - as soon as the father can tell his employer that he is quitting his job as a taxi driver. But the father's plans are changed when his boss buys his taxi company a new vehicle, a luxury Mercedes with all the bells and whistles. His pension, Spain, wife and common sense all vanish as he is left with one obsessive goal: to get behind the wheel of his coveted Mercedes one single time. Eventually his dream comes true, but at a cost. The father discovers he has put the whole family in such dire straits that the only way out is to steal the dead man's briefcase.

In the punk rock era of the late 1970s three restless teenagers, two boys and a girl, spend their time in and out of a special class for problem kids. Jussi seldom sees his parents at home, so he is free to indulge in petty crimes, pranks, and getting drunk with his friend Pete. Jussi falls in love with equally rebellious classmate Lissu (Aki Kaurismäki's favourite actress Kati Outinen in her debut role), but the lovers' plan to run away together fails dramatically.

Eccentric small town librarian Helinä struggles between everyday life and her love for the theatre, directing amateurs for a play by the famous Finnish writer Aleksis Kivi. She still carries the torch for her teenage sweetheart Leo, now a married chimney sweeper but still an aspiring playwright, despite his wife's opinions. Helinä thinks Leo is Aleksis Kivi, and so does Leo himself. Discouraged by the society, they end up in a mental institution but finally manage to stage an outdoor premiere of the play.

Force of Habit follows the lives of various women throughout one day. Hilla is having a romantic vacation, Emmi is throwing a house party, and Milja is on her way to school when they’re approached by a stranger and things take an unexpected turn. At the same time, Emppu, a young actress, is conflicted as she rehearses for the biggest role of her life. Elsewhere, Aleksi, an inexperienced prosecutor, is preparing for his first court case in haste; Niina, the victim of the crime, has been waiting years to see her case tried. Miia throws a company party, and the mood dramatically changes when her colleague Katja opens up about their boss coming on to her. Miia and a couple of her closest colleagues try to resolve the situation, but how do the others react?

A young actress, passionate about her profession, gets ready for a rape scene.

An comedy set in 1960s Helsinki. The story revolves around Elsa, a resolute hatmaker who is in complete control of her life. Besides running her shop, she sometimes doubles as a fortune teller. When Jan, a Czechoslovakian jazz musician and Elsa's old lover comes to town to perform at a "peace and friendship festival", her well-organised life is jolted out of balance.

A new ice age is coming to England. All energy sources have been depleted and despair is taking over the earth. The young king decides to use his last trump card before his power collapses and anarchy reigns over the island kingdom.

When circumstances conspire to leave Louise, an established Quebec painter, and Ahmed, an aspiring Lebanese-Canadian actor, sharing a remote lake house, the tension rarely abates. Understandably, Louise resents her solitude being trespassed on, particularly by someone whose backstory is hardly airtight.

In the 1930s, middle-aged museum curator Tauno Saarinen yearns for a young beautiful maid and writes a lengthy confession about his feelings which he gives his wife Elisabet to read. Elisabet shows the writings to her husband's sister Naimi, an art critic who tries to reconcile with her ex-husband despite a spiteful mother-in-law. Meanwhile, things gets worse between Tauno and Elisabet when the young maid, seduced by Tauno, becomes pregnant. Based on a novel by Helvi Hämäläinen, first published in 1941 but partly censored until 1995 because allegedly based on true incidents involving well-known people.

After losing her father, Vilma can't find her place in the life of her foster family. As a result of her struggles, Vilma ends up in a juvenile home, where she refuses to be subdued by the arbitrary and abusive staff who run it.

Den Traum vom Lebensabend im sonnigen Spanien haben sich inzwischen immer mehr Deutsche erfüllt. Die iberische Halbinsel wird bei Aussteigern immer beliebter. Eher zufällig kommt in Peter Lichtefelds „Playa Del Futuro“, seinem erst zweiten Projekt in Spielfilmlänge, der Protagonist mit diesem Lebensziel in Berührung, denn eigentlich ist er nur auf der Suche nach einem besseren Job und seiner großen Liebe.