Finnish Film Studios

An in-depth examination of the studio era of Finnish film industry.

This study approaches Finnish studio cinema as both typical and particular: it is a typical European small nation cinema with its industrial structures, its reliance on hierarchical organisation of labour and its love-hate relationship with Hollywood; yet, it is particular, not only in its genres, cycles and hugely popular domestic stars, but also because films were made in the constant presence of geopolitical realities, under the influence of at times Germany, at times Soviet Union. Finnish Film Studios provides a thorough examination of Finnish film industry through the core decades of studio era, from the early 1920s to the early 1960s. Attention is paid both to the fully integrated major companies, Suomi-Filmi, Suomen Filmiteollisuus and Fennada-Filmi, and the minor companies and independent producers that were responsible for some of the canonized work of the studio era, including the films of Teuvo Tulio and Nyrki Tapiovaara.