SXSW Film

The Living Room of the Nation

Finlanders are known more for their buttoned-up silence than their willingness to share their most intimate thoughts. But as producer Sami Jahnukainen noted at the film's first North American screening here March 15, a single camera placed in living rooms across Finland produced hours of footage of Finlanders addressing their deepest, darkest thoughts. The end result? An engaging documentary, lovingly edited in a way that allows each character to form his or her own narrative. The film opens with Tero, a stocky young man vibrating with fear and happiness over the prospect of becoming a father. "Why is life either uphill or downhill?" he wonders. Similar questions are posed by a lonely, aging priest, a couple moving to a new home in a retirement community, a retired truck driver with miles of regret. "I don't think I succeeded in being a father," he says, peering out the window of his living room.

Saturday, March 20, 6:15pm, Lamar 3