FINLAND: Paha Maa (Frozen Land). 2005

Director: Aku Louhimies
Stars: Jasper Pääkkönen, Mikko Leppilampi, Pamela Tola, Petteri Summanen.
Release date: Finland - 14 Jan 2005
Genre: Drama
Length: 130 mins

It just won 8 awards out of 10 nominations at the Finnish version of the Oscars, the Jussis.

I seriously thought we would have had this at the Sydney Film International Festival last year. How wrong I was. Those bastards at the Melbourne film fest had it a month later. So there's no way they will have it on this year. The trailer looks fantastic. Even if I did see it a year ago. Been on my top 10 list all that time. DVD here I come.

Synopsis
Tuomas is a young computer hacker who wishes to accomplish something significant and useful to the society. Tuomas's best friend Niko has more of a rock mentality than him, leading a more hedonistic life in the world of drugs and alcohol. About 20 years old, Elina is a brave and intelligent young activist studying history and political science at the university. Elina and Tuomas have had a happy relationship for over a year and are planning to get married. A chain reaction of events starts after Niko forges a 500 euro note. In the film's other plot, the attack planned by Tuomas and Elina on an information network has grave consequences.

Frozen Land is an intense, fast-paced and realistic depiction of today´s Finland. It contains several dramatic and tragic events and plenty of action, but also warmth. The film has an episodic structure, where the stories are not always linked to each other in a chronological order.

• Trailer 19MBs. Downloadable QT.