Finnish Cinema at the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region
When one thinks about Scandinavian cinema, what often comes to mind are top notch thrillers and detective films. For a number of years, we have included the Finnish Cinema section in the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region, in which we show you films that are definitely beyond that narrow definition. This year, in our Finnish menu, we have for you films about interpersonal relations, growing up, travelling, both local and global social issues, but also about everyday joys and maladies. The official patron of this section is the Honorary Consulate of Finland in Toruń.
The film Fallen Leaves, the Finish nominee for Academy Awards, shows a very emotional and affectionate encounter of Ansa, a supermarket worker and Hollap, who works at a construction site. The two slowly fall for each other, and the affection that develops between both of them is built with small gestures, joy of life and profound thoughts, which get a whole new meaning after the Russian invasion on Ukraine.
Light, Light, Light takes us back to 1986, when the whole of Europe is petrified, after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster. It is not so for Maria, as she only cares that Mimi came to her little Finnish village in the spring.
In Family Time, a comedy-drama, you will see a family trying their best to reconnect with one another at Christmas table, with the grandpa being intoxicated as he always is, and the grandma bending over backwards to save the day.
In Compartment No. 6, you will see a young Finnish woman get on board a train headed for an Arctic port, to escape from a strange love affair. Her companion during this journey is a Russian miner, and this casual journey will change their perspective on the world and relations between people.
In ‘Je’vida’, an aunt and her niece coming to Lapland, in order to prepare a house they had inherited for sale. When both women build a bond between them, they learn to appreciate themselves for who they really are, and respect their own origin. This is the first film ever made in which the Skolt Sámi language of Lapland is spoken. This language is now used by merely 300 people in the world. A special guest to our festival will be film director Katja Gauriloff, the author of ‘Je’vida’, who is going to have a meeting with our audience, after the screening of the film.
Included in the section:
- Je’vida, dir. by Katja Gauriloff, Finland, 2023, 99’
- Fallen Leaves, dir. by Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, Germany, 2023, 81’
- Light Light Light, dir. by Inari Niemi, Finland, 2023, 91’
- Family Time, dir. by Tia Kouvo, Finland, Sweden, 2023, 114’
- Compartment No. 6, dir. by Juho Kuosmanen, Finland, Estonia, 2021, 103’
