A Finnish section at the 18th edition the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region
Just as we do every year, Tofifest is going to make you acquainted with films from a country, which is geography-wise not far away, but cinema-wise not particularly popular. This year, we are going to venture deep into Finland, in the form of the Finnish section the sponsor and patron of which is the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Finland.
This section’s programme is packed with the most popular films made in Finland in the recent years. You will have an opportunity to see Stupid Young Heart / Hölmö nuori sydän, winner of the Crystal Bear at Berlinale, Little Wing / Tyttö nimeltä Varpu, featuring Linnea Skog, a star of Finnish cinema, in the main role (she received the Jussi Award, the Finnish equivalent of an Academy Award), or Kaisa's Enchanted Forest / Månskogarnas Kaisa, considered to be the best Finnish documentary film of late. The films qualified for the section include:
Stupid Young Heart
Kiira and Lenni are two strange looking teenagers. She is a fair-haired queen bee, and he is a skater. During a party, Lenni’s dream finally comes true and has can have a few private moments with Kiira, which makes the girl pregnant. Both of them decide to have the baby, but their situation is quickly spinning out of control for the parents-to-be. It is especially true for Lenni, who got involved in a right-wing racist gang preparing to make a stand against a supposedly incoming wave of Muslim immigrants...
Little Wing
It is a story of Varpu, 12, who is growing up very quickly, and her mother is just the opposite – she refuses to grow up. Varpu has never met her father. One evening, when she grows tired of her friends and the mother, she steals a car and travels up north to find her father, knowing only his last name. However, he turns out to be a far cry what she expected him to be...
The Voice of Sokurov
Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov is a one-man-institution in the contemporary Russian cinema. Since the very dawn of his film career, he has remained rebellious and has his own voice in many subjects, film art being only one of them. In the film, he adopts the role of a sage, sometimes a prophet, but he is surely an observer with a flair for academic lectures, who shares his knowledge and experience, personal experiences, but most of all is personal perspective on what makes cinema good or bad.
Eastern Memories
At the beginning of the 20th century, when there were still some uncharted territories on the map of the world, Finnish philologist G. J. Ramstedt travelled through Central Asia, all the way to Japan. As befits a true adventurer, he kept a journal, and it was a grand one. We can hear excerpts from the journal as a voice of the narrator, while the visual aspect of the film, to be in contrast with it, is made of contemporary landscapes, recorded by two Finnish filmmakers, who retraced the footsteps of the traveller.
Kaisa's Enchanted Forest
The film is a poetic study of the friendship between the legendary Skolt Sámi storyteller Kaisa Gauriloff and Swiss writer Robert Crottet. The film verges on the borderline between truth and fiction, combining old legends of the Skolt Sámi people and a sad story of their fate, which was sealed with the outbreak of the Second World War. Despite discussing events from the past, the film and the events portrayed in it are, quite surprisingly, still valid today.
The Hypnotist
Finnish hypnotist Olliver Hawk (1930-1988), or rather Olavi Hakasalo, as that was his real name, was a true superstar of his time. His career began in Australia, but made his name in Finland in the 1960s, when thousands of people watched his show. In addition to giving shows, he would also have private patients, for example people with mental disorders. In the 1980s, he was found guilty of a fraud and unregistered medical practice.
This year’s edition of the festival will be held from 17th October to 25th October, naturally in Torun. It will have a hybrid nature, combining both stationary and on-line film screenings. Rest assured that one thing remains unchanged: the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region will be a great feast for all cinema enthusiasts, both those coming to visit Torun in October and those sitting in front of their screens at home. Just as it is every single year.
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