Private Project

The Growing Season

Timo is a Finnish guy who wants to become a farmer. The authorities are against, because his crop is cannabis.

The Growing Season is a documentary film about Timo Haara, a Finnish guy who wants to cultivate high-THC cannabis without asking for permissions. The film is a story of one man’s tenacious fight against the system in pursuit of his dream. Although the cultivation of cannabis for other than narcotic use is legal in Finland, the interpretation of the law allows the authorities to see all cultivation as possible drug cultivation. The film follows Timo for two years in his quest to grow and tells one tale of civil disobedience in today's Europe.

  • Sampsa Huttunen
    Director
  • Sampsa Huttunen & Jussi Perälä
    Writer
  • Sampsa Huttunen
    Producer
  • Sampsa Huttunen
    Cinematographer
  • Sampsa Huttunen
    Editor
  • Kaapo Huttunen
    Composer
  • Janne Jankeri
    Sound Design
  • Timo Haara
    Key Cast
  • Mika Haapavuo
    Key Cast
  • Osmo Jauhiainen
    Key Cast
  • Risto Utriainen
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Kasvukausi
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 10 minutes 12 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2013
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Finland
  • Country of Filming:
    Estonia, Finland
  • Language:
    Finnish
  • Shooting Format:
    HDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Cannabis Film Festival
    Gaberville, CA, USA
    May 1, 2015
  • Cinetopia
    Several
    November 14, 2014
  • Matsalu Nature Film Festival
    Lihula & Haapsalu, Estonia
    September 17, 2014
  • Event Cinema at Finnkino Tennispalatsi 2
    Helsinki, Finland
    June 12, 2014
    Finnish premiere
  • American Online Film Awards
    americanonlinefilmawards.org
    May 1, 2014
  • IFSOC Independent Film Showcase
    Colorado Springs, Co, USA
    December 15, 2013
  • Ohio Independent Film Festival
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    November 7, 2013
  • International Film Festival STEPS
    Kharkov, Ukraine
    October 10, 2013
  • A FILM FOR PEACE Festival
    Medea, Italy
    June 6, 2013
    European Premiere
  • Bloody Hero International Film Festival
    Phoenix, Az, USA
    February 8, 2013
    North American Premiere
  • Lyons FIlm Festival
    Lyons, Colorado
    United States
    June 5, 2016
  • Maine Cannabis Film Festival
    Portland, Maine
    United States
    November 6, 2015
Distribution Information
  • VL Media
    Country: Finland
    Rights: All Rights
  • Reactor Films
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Sampsa Huttunen

BIOFILMOGRAPHY OF THE DIRECTOR

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Sampsa Huttunen
Tel: + 358 50 344 8709
Email: sampsa@mediareaktori.fi

EDUCATION:

PhD student at University of Helsinki, 2016 -
M.Soc.Sc. in Communication Studies from University of Helsinki, 1999.
BA in Film and Media Design from Helsinki Polytechnic, 2004.

AS A CINEMATOGRAPHER:

"Danny" – documentary (2016)
Running time: 105 minutes
Director: Sakari Saksa.

“Tolonen” – documentary (2014)
Running time: 75 minutes
Director: Lasse Keso.

“The Growing Season” – documentary (2012)
Running time: 70 minutes
Director: Sampsa Huttunen.

“Rannalta toiselle” – documentary (2006)
Running time: 45 minutes
Director: Arto Tuohimaa.

“Pappa” – short film (2005)
Running time: 17 minutes
Director: Maarit Koskinen.

“Perkele” – short film (2004)
Running time: 18 minutes
Director: Arto Tuohimaa.

“Mama Milka” – documentary (2003)
Running time: 25 minutes
Director: Tea Stolt.

AS A DIRECTOR:

“The Growing Season” – documentary (2012)
Running time: 70 minutes.

“Home for the Evening” – documentary (2002)
Running time: 13 minutes.

“The Promise” – short film (2002)
Running time: 8 minutes.

“On the Road Again” – short film (2002)
Running time: 3 minutes.

+ music videos, TV commercials and corporate & educational videos.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Director’s Statement for The Growing Season

Or: Reason why we made this film and why you should want to watch it.

Back in 2009, me and my co-writer Dr. Jussi Perälä, who as a social scientist had studied illegal drug use and users, began to work on a documentary about people growing Cannabis Sativa, a plant also known as hemp or marijuana. Although the cultivation of cannabis for other than narcotic use is legal in our home country Finland, the interpretation of the law allows the authorities to see all cultivation as possible illegal drug cultivation.

We set sail by following the lives and doing preliminary research on a number of possible main characters, but during the course of events (and in the lack of proper funding) had to narrow our scope to one single individual, Timo Haara, who’s quest to grow cannabis openly and in large scale without applying for any permits seemed the most intriguing and the most cinematic.

Although cannabis itself has not been in the centre of my interest neither in my professional nor my private life, the questions connected to it, the legislation related to it, and its potential beneficial uses are interesting both socially and economically and, to a growing extent, environmentally. Also, from the point of view of the individual, the personal ramifications cannabis cultivation might and--as we will see during the film--will have for the life of our main character are big, problematic, and worth telling.

In Helsinki, Finland
1 November 2012

Sampsa Huttunen
Co-Writer/Director/Producer