Finlandia

Name: Finlandia
Director: Erkki Karu
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1922
Duration: 1 h 35 min
Cast: Georg Theslöf

1922 Documentary 95 minutes Directed by Erkki Karu

About Finlandia

A government picture in six acts shows Finland's lakes and forests, sports, the army, farming, and Helsinki.

Cast & crew

More about Finlandia

Erkki Karu and Eero Leväluoma directed it. The Foreign Ministry of Finland commissioned it. Wikipedia gives 95 minutes. Wikidata lists 121. The original is lost and has been reconstructed. Versions were made in more than one language. Georg Theslöf is billed. A copy is on the Internet Archive as silent-finlandia.

Themes

lakes and forest
the army and the farms
Helsinki as the last act
Erkki Karu
Helsinki
Suomi-Filmi
Foreign Ministry
documentary
Finlandia

Background

Commissioned after Finnish independence, when the state wanted a film it could send out.

Making

The ministry ordered the film from Karu and Leväluoma as an export picture.

Preservation

The original is lost. A reconstruction exists.

Notes

It was made to show Finland abroad, as Finland (1911) had been.
It was shown in 40 countries.
The six acts cover nature, sport, the military, agriculture, and the capital.
Elonet holds a reconstruction that can be streamed.

Scenes

The acts move from the lakes to the capital.

Also available

Internet Archive (silent-finlandia)