81 minutes

 

Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen's Steam of Life is making history as the first documentary ever to represent Finland at Hollywood's Academy Awards nominations. The film produced by Berghäll (Oktober OY) is also selected for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2010.

"This is absolutely a knock out," said Berghäll, to nordiskfilmogtvfond.com. "I don't know yet what to think but I'm just incredibly happy. I'm so proud to have been chosen to represent Finland at the Oscars nomination, but being selected with Mika for the Nordic Council Film Prize is even more special as it is the most prestigious award in the Nordic region that was won last year by the amazing Lars von Trier."

Steam of Life is a subtle and emotional portrayal of naked Finnish men who cleanse themselves both mentally and physically in the intimacy of saunas. The film has won numerous awards - including the top award at Israel's DocAviv and the Prize of the Interreligious Jury at Nyon's Visions du Réel - and has been invited to 19 international festivals since last April. The next stop will be Nordisk Panorama in Bergen where it will compete for Best Nordic Documentary. In Finland, Steam of Life was also a hit on screens and is so far the sixth most popular Finnish film of the year. Currently playing on Swedish screens, the film will open in Norway and Poland in January. Film Transit International handles world sales. /Source: Nordisk Film & TV Fond

Synopsis:

Naked Finnish men sit in the sauna and speak straight from their heart. In the warmth of rusty stoves these men cleanse themselves both physically and mentally.

The film takes us to many different Finnish saunas to let us hear touching stories about love, death, birth and friendship; about life. In all of its simplicity camera records the landscapes, saunas and men in almost magical pictures. The presence of the characters and the depth of the emotion reaches the limit where it is almost intolerable for the viewer to watch. This film reveals the naked souls of these men exceptionally intimately and creates a poetic portrayal of Finnish men.

Opening film at DocPoint

TAMPERE FILM FESTIVAL March 2010:

The Risto Jarva Prize was awarded to Miesten vuoro (2010), a documentary directed by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen. The Jury states: “The filmmakers have an exceptional ability to bring forward the male’s most personal feelings and a sensibility to treat tough life stories in a purifying way. "The Jury members were Kati Nuora, Raija Nurmio, Hannes Vartiainen and Pekka Veikkolainen. The Audience Award went to Miesten vuoro, too.

News from Finnish Film Foundation:

Steam of Life (Miesten vuoro) by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen has won the Prize of the Interreligious Jury at Visions du Réel – International Documentary Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland (April 15–21, 2010). The screening in the Compétition Internationale of Visions du Réel was the international premiere of the film. The prize is worth CHF 5000 (ca. 3500 Euro), and the jury consisted of representatives of the Catholic and Protestant churches as well as the Muslim and Jewish communities.

Steam of Life has earlier won the Risto Jarva and Audience Awards at Tampere International Film Festival in Finland. From Switzerland the film travels to Canada, where it has its North American premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto (April 29 – May 9, 2010).

In Finland, Steam of Life was theatrically released on March 26, and has since found an exceptionally large audience for a documentary film: it has sold ca. 14 000 tickets in less than four weeks. The Finnish distributor is Nordisk Film.

International sales are handled by Jan Rofekamp / Films Transit International. The film has so far been sold for TV in Estonia, France, Germany and Sweden and for theatrical release in Poland and Sweden.

DOCAVIV 2010:

First place in the International Contest was awarded to Joonas Berghäll, Mika Hotakainen for their film “Steam of Life,” a close look at the conversations of men in the sauna. Said the judges, “The sauna is the symbolic space, where people are naked physically and emotionally, which makes the protagonists compelling and vulnerable. Showing the most common Finnish cultural custom, the director exposes human emotions that are the same in France, Israel and the UK. The film surprised us on many levels. We are seeing thing we never imagined and hearing dialogue that brought out the poetry of everyday tragedies and pleasures. Change happened in front of the camera. We saw men saving each other through their shared humanity. The limpid gaze of the director that found visual delight as well as the pain of living in a world which seems inexplicable, and that we cannot control.”

http://silverdocs.com/news-links/2010/05/25/competition-films-announced/

Special Jury Award at Silver Docs Festival in Washington D.C!

Grand Prize at Pärnu Film Festival http://www.chaplin.ee/filmfestival/awards-public.htm

Swedish Cinema distribution 2010 by Folkets Bio. Premiere 20th of August 2010!

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NOMINATIONS:

European Film Awards 2010, Prix ARTE nominee
IDA Awards 2010, Distinguished Feature nominee
Nordic Council Film Prize 2010 nominee

AWARDS:

Risto Jarva Prize and Audience Award, Tampere FF 2010
Prize of the Interreligious Jury, Visions du Réel 2010
First place in the International Contest, DocAviv 2010
Millenium Award, Planete Doc Review Warsaw 2010
Special Jury Mention, Silverdocs 2010
Grand Prize, Pärnu Film Festival 2010
Silver Dove, DOK Leipzig 2010
Universities Award, Doclisboa 2010
Documentary Film Prize, Nordische Filmtage Lübeck 2010