Films

Seals, cougars, bugs & co. — all gathered together in a beautiful setting, surrounded by Finnish nature.
Please feel welcome to join us in August!

Our festival programme is a celebration of biodiversity, the variety of life.

We will be screening documentaries about life on land, sea and air, from near and afar: mammals, birds, insects and many more. Everybody with an interest in their environment is sure to find something to their liking. The screening times are daily from 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Each day we offer different treats for the festival audience.

On Thursday, our special feature is the oldest nature documentary filmed in Finland (Among Wild Birds). This silent film was completed in 1927.

Our highlight for Friday is significant in a very different way: Winner of the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, The Cove reveals the harsh treatment of dolphins in Japan.

On Saturday, our celebration of biodiversity has a local emphasis.
As a special feature of the festival we are proud to premiere Juha Taskinen's latest work, the crowning achievement in his series of documentaries about seals: Ice-Loving Seals (Jäätä rakastavat).

All screenings in the main programme will be held in the concert hall of the Retretti art centre, from Thursday to Saturday (August 19 – 21)

Films:

Thursday, 19 August 2010

15.00
Puma: Lion of the Andes
The cougar, or puma, is a large, sleek cat native to the Americas. One of its last havens can be found in the distant Patagonia. Filmmaker Hugh Miles followed for two years the life of a beautiful female cougar and her kittens. The film received an award at the Wildscreen film festival in 1996.
Production: National Geographic, USA 1996
Length: 53 min

16.00
Life: Fish
How fast can sailfish and flying fish travel? Lifeforms abound in the fertile seas of the western Pacific, but competition is also fierce, and hiding places are in high demand.
Production: BBC, Great Britain 2009
Length: 50 min

17.00
The Queen of Trees
The sycamore fig in Kenya provides nesting opportunities and food for the silvery-cheeked hornbills and many other species. The tiny fig wasp lays her eggs in the figs, while also taking care of the pollination of the trees.
Production: Deeble & Stone, Great Britain 2005
Length: 53 min

18.00
Among Wild Birds (silent film with improvised music)
This was the first full-length nature film made in Finland. Heikki Aho and Björn Soldan filmed the first part in the inland municipality of Jokioinen in 1926, the second part on the Karelian Isthmus in 1927, and the third part on the Åland Islands in 1927. The film premiered at the La Scala theatre in Helsinki in November 1927.
Production: Aho & Soldan, Finland 1927 Length: 88 min + 10 min

20.00
Microcosmos
A fascinating look at insect life in meadows and ponds. The film uses close-ups in a novel and innovative way, giving us a rare opportunity to marvel at the survival strategies and relationships of insects. A work of great warmth, this is a film suitable for all ages.
Production: Galatée Films, France 1996
Length: 90 min

Friday, 20 August 2010

15.00
He Dances for His Cormorants
In Europe, great cormorants are often discussed in negative terms, but Chinese fisherman know how to benefit from these animals. The practice of training cormorants to catch fish is a Chinese tradition going back centuries. This film features a fisherman with twelve cormorants, raised and cared for by him like his own offspring.
Production: Boréales, France 1994
Length: 26 min

15.30
Cherubs of the Mist
This is the first documentary film of the rare red pandas in their natural habitat in the eastern Himalayas. It shows a panda couple building a nest and preparing for the arrival of cubs.
Production: Bedi Films, India 2006
Length: 53 min

16.30
Old Man and the Moose
Harri is an Estonian man who has closely observed moose in the wild for well over three decades. He has sought their company in the wetlands and meadows, and even learned to converse with them in the "moose language." To an outsider, the old man's behaviour with his animal friends may seem plain strange, but for Harri it is all about becoming part of nature—almost turning into a moose himself.
Production: Vesilind, Estonia 2009
Length: 45 min

 

 

17.30
Village of the Sleeping Beauty
A film about uncomplicated life and survival, this is a portrait of Viktor and Maria Popov, an elderly couple from Russian Karelia. They live in the harsh conditions of the taiga, with virtually no money. The film group follows the everyday life of Viktor and Maria over a period of two years, between 1999 and 2001, in their home village of Paanajärvi, in one of the poorest corners of Russia.
Production: Taiga Films Oy, Finland 2002
Length: 53 min

18.30
The Raven's Dance
A fiction film shot in colour in 1980, this is a song of humans, nature and civilization. It became an instant classic.
Directed by: Markku Lehmuskallio, Finland 1980
Length: 80 min

20.15
The Cove (PG)
Winner of the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, The Cove describes the practice of dolphin slaughter in Japan. It combines images of breathtaking natural beauty with the harsh treatment of dolphins, filmed in part with hidden cameras. While revealing the age-old methods of killing dolphins in an isolated cove outside of a small town, the film also expands into a broader discussion of oceanic preservation.
Directed by: Louie Psihoyos, USA 2009
Length: 94 min
The film is not suitable for children

Saturday, 21 August 2010

15.00
Housefly: An Everyday Monster
Who would think of flies as anything more than a nuisance? Yet this little monster is an important part of our global ecosystem. This Austrian film tells us in an entertaining way everything about the private and public life of the housefly. Anyone who sees this film will understand why we simply have to put up with flies!
Production: Interspot, Austria 1999
Length: 45 min

16.00
Life: Creatures of the Deep
The depths of the oceans are home to some of the most bizarre animals on the planet, including squid and starfish. In some ways, we can relate to them: like many a mother, a giant octopus is ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect her eggs.
Production: BBC, Great Britain 2009
Length: 50 min

17.00
Winged Migration
Bird migration has always been a source of fascination for people. This documentary takes us on the wings of migratory birds to follow their travels all over the world. We see some escaping the coldness of winter, some returning to their nesting areas in far-flung wilderness. Special cameras give us a genuine bird's-eye view.
Production: Galatée Films, France 2002
Length: 90 min

19.00
Ice-Loving Seals (world premiere!)
The Saimaa ringed seal is a critically endangered subspecies of the Arctic ringed seal. The only existing population lives trapped in the basins of Lake Saimaa, threatened by human activities. In this documentary, we join researchers observing seals in open and ice-covered waters. The big question is: Where have all the pups gone? For director and photographer Juha Taskinen, Ice-Loving Seals marks a crowning achievement in his series of seal documentaries. It shows highlights from a decade of filming, often documenting key moments underwater.
Production: Norppa Taskinen Ky, Finland 2010
Length: 53 min

20.15
Serengeti Shall Not Die
Tanzania's Serengeti is a wondrous paradise on Earth. Nowhere else can you see so many wild animals in one place. However, as early as in the 1950's, the wildlife in the Serengeti came under threat. Bernhard and Michael Grzimek, father and son, decided to take action to conserve the environment.
The resulting film became one of the most famous and influential nature documentaries in the world. It also won an Academy Award in 1959.
Production: Bernhard Grzimek, Germany 1959
Length: 85 min