Private Project

Voices from Finnmark

A documentary road movie from the northern-most part of Norway: Finnmark.
Driving around at the end of the world, this far-away place above the arctic circle unfolds itself little by little through the images and all the stories shared by the people along the way. A cultural mosaic covering topics like periphery-center questions, environment, indigenous people, acceptance, everyday life, history and a changing society. Everything was filmed in October, a quiet period between the tourist seasons, between autumn and winter.

  • Petri Storlöpare
    Director
    A Life in Japan, The last generation?, Hooked on Azores, Troutfishing in Swedish Lapland, Drömmar om lax
  • Petri Storlöpare
    Producer
    A Life in Japan, The last generation?, Hooked on Azores, Troutfishing in Swedish Lapland, Drömmar om lax
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    2 hours 29 minutes 13 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Sweden
  • Country of Filming:
    Norway
  • Language:
    Finnish, Norwegian, Russian, Swedish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Nordkapp Film Festival
    Honningsvåg
    Norway
    September 12, 2019
    World premiere
  • Northern Character: Green Screen
    Kirkenes
    Norway
    September 26, 2019
  • Northern Character: Green Screen
    Nikel
    Russian Federation
    September 28, 2019
    Russian premiere
  • Luleå Film Festival
    Luleå
    Sweden
    September 27, 2019
    Swedish premiere
    Official selection
  • Boden International Film festival
    Boden
    Sweden
    April 8, 2020
    First prize / Swedish Feature Documentary
Director Biography - Petri Storlöpare

Born in Finland 1965. Self-taught independent documentary filmmaker living in the north of Sweden. Bought his first video camera in 2000 and has worked on a number of projects when time and money permitted. Previous films include ‘A Life in Japan’ that’s been a huge success on Internet, ‘The last generation?’ that won 3rd prize in the documentary category at the international film festival in Murmansk, and ‘Flyfishing for trout in Swedish Lapland’ that won the category ecological travel at the ecological film festival in Khanty-Mansiysk. He also runs a local TV-channel in the small village he lives in.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Distant or difficult to get places have always allured me and although Finnmark is not that extremely far away from where I live, it still has that strong feeling of "end of the world". It is the northern-most area of mainland Europe and there are not many places on earth where people live more north.

I knew almost nothing about the area prior to my trip and I choose not to do any research. Like an old-time explorer I just arrived to the first town, bought a map and started to travel to see what I would find.

With this documentary I'm not trying to tell the "truth" about Finnmark. It's a patchwork made up of all the stories and facts that people shared with me, told with their own words, and it's up to the viewer to make up his or her own mind.

At previous screenings in Finnmark people from the audience came and shook my hand and thanked me for making this documentary. People living in this region often feel left out and forgotten, and both the audience and organizers at festivals have told me that this is an important film. "At last somebody made a film like this about Finnmark".

I worked with the documentary alone for six years and did everything by myself. Biggest part of the budget went to gasoline. While exploring the end of the world, I mostly slept in the car and ate canned beans on a camping stove.