Archive of films Finnish Blood, Swedish Heart / Laulu koti - Ikävästä

Finland / Sweden
2012, 90 min

Section: Variety's Ten Euro Directors to Watch
Year: 2013

Boasting a playful form and emotional content, this touching documentary shows a father and son road trip morphing into a musical journey that examines the fraught history of Finnish immigration in Sweden. You will leave wishing for a soundtrack album. Winner, Best Nordic Documentary, Göteborg festival in 2013.

Synopsis

Boasting a playful form and emotional content, this modest but touching documentary shows a father and son road trip morphing into a musical journey that examines the fraught history of Finnish immigration in Sweden. The best film yet from helmer Mika Ronkainen, the pic uses vintage songs to delve into distressing memories shared by many Swedish Finns, involving shame, guilt, crime and alcoholism. Fortyish musician Kai Latvalehto has an adorable son and a happy marriage, but still feels rootless. Perhaps his feeling stems from a childhood spent in Sweden and a return to Finland as a teen. As taciturn Kai and dad Tauno drive from Oulu, Finland to their former home in Göteborg, Sweden their painfully honest conversations are punctuated by songs written in the 1970s by first generation Finnish immigrants to Sweden, performed live by second generation Swedish-Finnish musicians. The appealing musical performances deserve a soundtrack album.

About the director

Mika Ronkainen (b. 1970, Kuusamo, Finland) is a director from Oulu in northern Finland. His best-known films include the documentaries Huutajat – Screaming Men (2003) and Freetime Machos (2009). The first is a portrait of a renowned choir bearing the name Mieskuoro Huutajat, for which director Ronkainen sang in 1994-98. The second focuses on what is allegedly the northernmost rugby team, allegedly also third toughest in the world. Other films: Oulu Burning (Oulu palaa – kaupunki joka katosi, 1998), The World Will Change Soon (Kohta maailma muuttuu, 2000), Before the Flood (Viimeiset vuotoksella, 2000), Car Bonus (Autobonus, 2001), Our Summer (Meän kesä, 2004), and Sentenced – Buried Alive (2006), a documentary about a concert featuring a Finnish heavy metal band. Finnish Blood Swedish Heart took the Grand Prix Dragon Award at the 2013 festival in Göteborg.

Contacts

Klaffi Productions
Nahkatehtaankatu 2, FI-90130, Oulu
Finland
Tel: +358 104 392 905
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.klaffi.com

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About the film

Color, DCP

Section:	Variety's Ten Euro Directors to Watch

Director:	Mika Ronkainen
Screenplay:	Mika Ronkainen
Dir. of Photography:	Vesa Taipaleenmäki
Editor:	Åsa Mossberg
Producer:	Ulla Simonen
Production:	Klaffi Productions
Contact:	Klaffi Productions

Guests

Mika Ronkainen

Film Director / Producer

Marja Pallassalo

Film Institution Rep.

Kimmo Paananen

Producer