War Child Chose Science

Päivi Kapiainen-Heiskanen, director, script writer, journalist

Päivi Kapiainen-Heiskanen M.Soc. Sc. is a Finnish doc film director with background in journalism, cross-media and content management. She is also the CEO of the family-owned production company Mikkelin Mediaali Ltd.

During the past 10 years, she has completed seven documentary films that have been screened widely around the world and received recognition.

Over the years, she has been making hundreds of web videos for her own projects and customers and a dozen tv programmes for the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE/YLE Teema.
In addition, she has been coordinating web content projects as well as domestic and international network projects. She has also acted as a fixer for several foreign colleagues.

Her seven doc films give grassroot insights into Finnish society from a fresh perspective. Each of the films has been widely screened at domestic and international film festivals and received several awards. War child chose science is her 7th film.

The Reindeer belong to the Wind (Porot kuuluvat tuulelle, 40 min, 2016) lets the Sámi reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland (Käsivarsi) tell about the challenges related to land use and the possibilities of environmental mediation. This film takes you to the Finnish wilderness where Sámi people are herding their reindeer. This is a film about indigenous people, the value of nature and lack of dialogue between different interest groups but it also lets people tell what solutions there could be. The film was completed as a part of a environmental mediation project “Saisiko olla ympäristökonfliktisoppaa?” funded by Kone Foundation.

When School broke out of Prison (Kun koulu vapautui vankilasta, 60 min, 2017) shows how small schools are being closed down in rural areas in Finland and activists cannot stop the trend. The film tells the story of Halmeniemi Free Village School that was operated on voluntary basis for two years in early 2000s in Lakeland Finland. Academic researchers were following the process and the village got lots of media attention. This is a film about resilience, attempts to change existing structures, community spirit and innovative thinking when developing rural communities. The film was partly funded by Finnish Cultural Foundation / Toivo Pyy Fund.

Toyota and Windbreaker (Toyota ja toppatakki, 64 min, 2019) is a doc film about a brave elderly woman entrepreneur Liisa Heikkinen in the town of Pieksämäki. She wants to develop her nursing home company even if international chains are knocking on her door and wanting to buy it. This is a film about dignity and the liberty of making choices even if you live in a nursing home. The film was partly funded by Finnish Cultural Foundation / Toivo Pyy Fund.

Seeking New Paths (Uusille poluille, 52 min, 2020) tells about a Finnish woman entrepreneur who fulfills three dreams common to Finns: she moves to the countryside with her family, starts a horse stable company of her own and finally moves to the sunshine in southern Spain having worked as a sole entrepreneur for 15 years. But life offers her great surprises. This is a film about passion, empowerment, motherhood, restrains of entrepreneurship and balance in life. This film was partly funded by Finnish Cultural Foundation / Toivo Pyy Fund.

Man and an old Mill (Mies ja koski, 19 min, 2022) honours small idyllic nature spots, incredible storytellers and resilient Finns who lived in a sustainable way in harsh rural conditions not that long ago. This film also tells in concrete examples how climate change affects the living environments of all of us. The main character of the film lived at the mill farm close to the small Puhinkoski rapids in his childhood. The farm was abandoned over 50 years. The film is about love for the countryside and lively rural communities. This film was partly funded by Finnish Cultural Foundation / Toivo Pyy Fund.

Anne´s amazon (Annen amatsoni, 54 min, 2023, English subtitles in August 2024) tells the story of a Mikkeli-based artist Anne Mäkeläinen who got inspired by Astuvansalmi rock paintings 30 years ago. There is a rare figure representing a hunting female figure that Anne named an amazon in her art. Her career has had all kinds of ups and downs but she has kept a clear focus in what she wants to do. This is a film about determination and the power of art and culture enrichening rural communities. The script writing of this film was funded by Alfred Kordelin foundation.

War child chose science (Lapsisotilaasta tohtoriksi, 60 min, 2025) tells the story of Paul Bangura who was abducted by guerrillas to be a child soldier for 11 months in his teens during the civil war Sierra Leone. The film ends with Paul defending his PhD thesis at the University of Helsinki Lammi Biological Station at the end of February in 2026. This is a film about resilience, strong will, love, sorrow and determination to change the world. This film was funded by Finnish Cultural Foundation / Maija-Liisa Heini Foundation and the Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists.