The Canaries

Sadly, individuals suffering from mold sickness are often still marked as nothing more but neurotic troublemakers, chronic complainers, or just plain mad. But which one of the two is madder in the end: those who fell ill or the world that caused it?

Hundreds of thousands of Finns are exposed to mold and moisture microbes every day. Many fall ill, some of them severely.

The Canaries is a documentary about people who have fallen sick as a result of exposure to poor indoor air quality caused by toxic mold microbes. Because of the illness the protagonists have had to withdraw from what once used to be their everyday life. The
outside world carries a risk of exposure and has therefore become a constant threat. What used to be home has turned into a prison and isolation has become a safe haven.

Detective seargant Pekka Mustonen fell ill in a new Police Department of Jyvaskyla. Occupational Health Nurse, Paivi Luomala at her workplace in a Health Center. Katja Minkkinen fell ill at work and because of that, she was was illegally fired. Artists
Susanna Puhakka and Mika Kalmi spent years moving from one moldy appartment to another. All protagonists are united not only by mold, but by that fact, that the exposure and falling ill could have been avoided, if someone would have taken responsibility and cared for his fellow citizen.

The documentary follows the lives of the protagonists for one year, from summer 2013 to summer 2014. It shows how the illness with its physical symptoms is only one part of the problem. Getting sick has devastated the protagonists' lives and social relationships.
Internet and social media are, if not the only, their most important form of social interaction and connection to the outside world. Additional difficulties for the protagonists, come from the irresponsibility and ridicule frequently demonstrated by
society and the public.

The protagonists have already moved past the initial shock stage of the illness. They have created their own means of survival in order to carry on with their lives. To do this they have had to look deep into themselves to find out what it is that they really want
to do in their lives, within the limitations set by the illness, of course. This might not always be possible for all of them but even unrealistic dreams have a certain power.

Today, people who have fallen ill due to exposure are like the canaries that in the past used to be taken down to the mines. When the bird started falling ill, people knew that the air was toxic and it was time to leave. Only today no one is taking the signs
seriously.