LA FINLANDE EN 3 FILMS
25, 26 & 27 SEPTEMBER 2026
The eighteenth edition of La Finlande en 3 films will take place from 25 to 27 September 2026 at the Reflet Médicis in Paris. This year, discover four Finnish feature films with French subtitles: Tell Everyone by Alli Haapasalo, Ella and Friends – Operation Otter by Elin Grönblom, Kidnapping of the President by Samuli Valkama and Days of Wonder by Karin Pennanen.
Supported by the Finnish Film Foundation and the Finnish Embassy in Paris, this event is organised by Irmeli Debarle in partnership with Dulac cinéma to promote Finnish cinema in France.
PROGRAMME:
Friday 25 September at 8pm
Tell Everyone by Alli Haapasalo (2026)
In Finnish with French subtitles, 112’
Set in the 19th century, the film centers on Amanda Aaltonen (Marketta Tikkanen), a defier of social norms. Her confinement to the mental hospital on the remote island of Seili expands her personal quest for freedom into a portrayal of the era’s ruthless social structures imposed on women.
Tell Everyone is a Finnish historical drama written by Katja Kallio, based on her own novel “The Bearer of the Night”. Alongside Tikkanen, the other lead roles are played by Krista Kosonen, Aamu Milonoff, Jakob Öhrman, Alma Pyösti and Noora Dadu.
Saturday 26 September at 4pm
Ella and Friends – Operation Otter by Elin Grönblom (2025)
In Finnish with French subtitles, 74’
Ella and her classmates have to spend a week in the Finnish forest with their teacher in order to graduate second grade. What seems like an uncomfortable situation at first, soon turns interesting when they come across a cute family of otters and Ella is contacted by Mother Nature herself for help.
Ella and Friends – Operation Otter is a feature-length film based on a popular children’s book series in Finland called “Ella and Friends” by Timo Parvela.
Saturday 26 September at 8pm
Kidnapping of the President by Samuli Valkama (2026)
In Finnish with French subtitles, 87’
Kidnapping of the President transports the viewer into the midst of the absurd events of 1930. During a night of heavy drinking, a group of officers decides to kidnap Finland’s first president—the already retired K. J. Ståhlberg. The headstrong First Lady, Ester Ståhlberg, refusing to leave her husband’s side, joins the kidnappers in the back seat of the car. Thus begins an incredible journey through a turbulent Finland.
This new Finnish comedy-drama film by Samuli Valkama is inspired by true events; rumours and history intertwine—to this day, it remains unclear what is fact and what is fiction in the president’s abduction.
Sunday 27 September at 8pm
Days of Wonder by Karin Pennanen (2025)
In Finnish with French subtitles, 88’
When Finnish filmmaker Karin Pennanen’s uncle Markku died after decades of isolation, she entered his house for the first time in 34 years and uncovered a world no one had seen: an immense archive of paintings, compositions, writings, audio diaries and videotapes. Once a beloved playmate in her childhood, Markku had withdrawn into solitude, devoting his life to inner freedom and creativity rather than the expectations of society. Out of his hidden legacy, a dialogue beyond death begins to take shape.
Days of Wonder is both an intimate family portrait and a cinematic resurrection. It transforms a story of loss into an act of wonder, inviting us to rethink what it means to live authentically, and to find in Markku a companion in the universal quest for meaning.