Editorial: Cinematic Sparks of Hope

DocPoint’s Head of Programming Inka Achté introduces the films and main themes of the 2025 festival in her editorial.

Greetings, dear friends of documentaries!

The new year has begun, which means that DocPoint will soon delight documentary film enthusiasts by bringing the latest and most captivating real-life stories to theaters. The past year has been harsh in many ways. In Finland, the government initiated massive cuts affecting students, asylum seekers, and the unemployed, not forgetting art and culture. Globally, wars raged; Israel continued its genocide in Palestine, and Russia pursued its war of aggression in Ukraine. To the surprise of many, despite an assassination attempt, Donald Trump will/has once again become the President of the United States.

What remains unchanged is the climate crisis threatening life on Earth. DocPoint’s Climate Report series features a selection of films highlighting the alarming state of our planet. The Here Now Project, composed of smartphone footage by ordinary people, shows that in an environmental crisis, the truth is more terrifying than any disaster film. Searching for Amani takes us to Kenya, where a mysterious murder opens the eyes of an aspiring young journalist to the deadly effects of colonialism and climate change. The White House Effect, using archival material, illustrates how global concern for our warming planet transformed into a matter of opinion over thirty years.

DIVERGING PERSPECTIVES

Our era is marked by ideological and political polarization. People with differing views seem unable to sit at the same table. The superpower of documentaries lies in their ability to place the viewer in someone else’s shoes, offering perspectives that differ from their own. Polarization is a symptom of democratic erosion, which is why the familiar Democracy in Distress series includes several documentaries addressing this issue. Premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Homegrown follows what drives devoted Trump supporters to storm the Capitol after Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Awarded for Best Directing at IDFA, An American Pastoral portrays school board elections in a small town in Pennsylvania, where the struggle between right-wing conservatives and liberals mirrors the broader societal divide. Apocalypse in the Tropics shows how evangelical Christianity influenced Jair Bolsonaro’s rise to power in Brazil. We also get a glimpse of Russia in renowned Czech director Filip Remunda’s latest film, Happiness to All, featuring a devout Putin supporter living in Siberia. Of Caravan and the Dogs follows the increasingly impossible lives of Russian journalists and human rights activists before and during the war in Ukraine. Both films will serve as a starting point for the DocFocus discussion Journalism in a Polarised World, organized in collaboration with the Union of Journalists in Finland.

As the opposite of polarization, one might consider a functioning community. The thematic series Stronger Together offers cinematic sparks of hope for viewers feeling anxious in a divided world. The healing power of the community is showcased in films like Balomanía, about hot air balloon enthusiasts in Brazil’s favelas, the laughter-inducing Pavilion 6, set at a Croatian vaccination center, and the pastel-colored musical documentary Reas, diving into the lives of Argentinean female prisoners. Abortion Dream Team follows Polish women fighting for abortion rights in a country with the strictest abortion laws in Europe. Director Karolina Domagalska will attend the festival and participate in the DocFocus discussion Activists as Defenders of Abortion Rights on Saturday, February 8, organized with Amnesty International Finland.

WARMTH AMID THE WINTER COLD

Adding warmth to February’s frosts are the music documentaries in the Feel the Beat series, continuing for the third year, and films under the Long Live Love theme, exploring diverse forms of love. We will meet the late composer genius Leif Segerstam in LEif and queer icon and musician Peaches in Peaches Goes Bananas, premiered in Venice. Lesvia tells the story of women who found a safe haven on the beautiful island of Lesbos, while Trust Me introduces a Berlin couple opening their relationship due to the husband’s yearning for freedom. The Flamingo follows 60-year-old Mary’s journey into the world of BDSM after years of celibacy and divorce. Director Adam Sekuler and protagonist Mary Phillips will attend DocPoint to answer audience questions.

The competition series includes films that are not only distinctive and reflective of their directors but also showcase the diversity of documentary cinema as an art form. In the international competition, Apple Cider Vinegar by Sophie Benoot starts with a kidney stone and evolves into an exploration of stones (and much more). Writing Hawa by Najiba Noor depicts the lives of the women in her family as they change when the Taliban rises to power in Afghanistan. A Fidai Film by Kamal Aljafari is an experimental work based on archival material stolen by the Israeli army from a Palestinian research center in Beirut during the Lebanon War. Mother Vera paints a sensory portrait of a nun at a crossroads in her life, living in a Belarusian monastery.

The films in the Finnish competition are delightfully diverse in style. The opening film, Forget About Cinema! by Arantzazu Gomez Bayon, is a stunning, category-defying depiction of balancing artistry and motherhood, placing the filmmaker within the canon of her predecessors with sharp insight. Two Forests by Jan Ijäs explores aging and death through Japanese forest myths. In the Borderland by Elina Hyvärinen is an observational documentary about the municipality of Parikkala and its residents’ changing relationship with Russia after the war in Ukraine begins.

Director Olli Laine’s ambitious Matti Nykänen – The Legend is part of the Fruits of Labour series, examining how our identities intertwine with our work. The film reflects on the contradictory persona of the ski-jumping legend through archival material and the memories of close ones. Matti’s decline from sports star to stripping singer is recounted by his mother Vieno and his daughter Eveliina, who has remained out of the public eye. Also featured in this series are Wisdom of Happiness, where the Dalai Lama shares not only the secrets of happiness but also personal insights into his life for the first time, and Afternoons of Solitude, a masterful film by Catalan director Albert Serra, awarded at the San Sebastian Film Festival. The film, focusing on bullfighter Andrés Roca Rey, is a breathtaking exploration of masculinity, power, and the blurred line between man and beast—not for the faint-hearted!

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Finnish short documentaries shine year after year with their originality and boldness. That’s why I’m particularly delighted that this year DocPoint has a dedicated competition series for short films, screened in three sessions. The selection includes Fabulous Cow Ladies by Mia Halme, honoring cows; Rooms by Antti Lempiäinen, examining homelessness in Finland; and Bright White Light by Henna Välkky and Eesu Lehtola, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, portraying near-death experiences.

This year’s program also features three films specifically aimed at young audiences, part of the Whole Life Ahead selection. Bring your young ones along to explore the fascinating world of true stories! In Kix, we follow the decade-long journey of a friendship between a young film student and skateboarder and an 8-year-old boy named Sanyi, living on the streets of Budapest. Romina introduces us to a teenage girl from Bologna’s suburbs, a talented and passionate boxer whose life takes a turn when her mother is imprisoned, forcing her to shoulder adult responsibilities. Directors Valerio Lo Muzio and Michael Petrolini will attend DocPoint from Italy. Grand Me delves into the world of a young Iranian girl. Living with her grandparents, 9-year-old Melina plans to sue her parents for failing to care for her after their divorce.

In 2025, DocPoint returns exclusively as an in-person event, bringing stunning documentaries from 30 different countries to theaters. In addition to domestic filmmakers, audiences will have the opportunity to meet several international directors. In an era dominated by streaming services and smart devices, DocPoint aims to present documentaries as shared experiences on the big screen. As our Executive Director Johanna Råman said when receiving the State Prize for Cinema for DocPoint (my deepest thanks for that!) last December: A nation without documentary film is like a home without a photo album. Finland needs art, culture, knowledge, perspectives, trust, hope, community, and courage. And DocPoint needs you, dear friends of documentaries, to come, see, and experience the world in all its incredible diversity, with us.

Inka Achté, Head of Programming