The best Laura Birn’s movies

Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

A young affluent couple expecting their first child hits it off with the new couple that moves in downstairs, until a dinner party between them ends in a shocking accident.

Norway, 1942, during World War II. After being separated from her family, Esther, a young Jewish girl from Trondheim, arrives at an isolated farm where she must assume a new identity in order to survive the Nazi persecution.

Hundreds of years ago in Lapland, a little boy named Nikolas loses his family in an accident. The villagers decide to look after the orphaned boy together. Once a year - at Christmas - Nikolas moves to a new home. To show his gratitude, Nikolas decides to make toys for the children of the families as good-bye presents. Over the years, Nikolas's former adoptive families become many, and soon almost every house has presents on its doorstep on Christmas morning. At thirteen, Nikolas is sent to live and work with Iisakki, a grumpy old carpenter, who forbids Nikolas to continue making presents for Christmas. Gradually, however, Nikolas wins Iisakki's trust. Together they begin to look after the Christmas traditional that Nikolas has begun. When the aged Iisakki has to leave Nikolas and move away, the tradition of Christmas presents is once again at risk. Thankfully, Nikolas comes up with a solution that brings children joy every Christmas, even continuing to today.

Naked Harbour is a movie about Finnish love in the year 2011. It is a story about people who seek love and acceptance at any cost. During one winter week all its characters face something irreversible.

A portrait of the brilliant, extravagant Kristina of Sweden, queen from age six, who fights the conservative forces that are against her ideas to modernize Sweden and who have no tolerance for her awakening sexuality.

Allide experienced The Great Terror under Stalin’s regime, and decades after her hometown people were deported to Siberia, she lives alone in an isolated house. One night, she finds a young woman in her yard – Zara has just escaped from the claws of the Russian mafia that held her as a sex slave. Survivors both, Aliide and Zara engage in unearthing each other’s motives and gradually, and their stories merge into one, revealing the tragedy of a family during the cruelest years in Estonian history.

Neo-Nazi falls in love with a woman who has a black son and finds himself fighting with conflicting feelings.

Tundra of Lapland, Finland. Rupi, a young man who fills his days dealing and drinking, works in a mine hoping to raise enough money to escape the desolate village where he lives.

Miguel “Bayoneta” Galíndez is a retired boxer from Tijuana who finds himself living in a cramped flat in Finland. As his future begins to look up, a desire for redemption draws him back into the ring.

Bahman, Mahtab, Ramin and Donya Mehdipour are enjoying a perfect summer in a small Finnish town. Their routines are fractured by a negative decision on their application for asylum by the Finnish Immigration Service. But life must go on and the 13-year-old Ramin is about to enter an entirely new school, junior high. The Mehdipours use their last chance to appeal but continue their everyday lives, fuelled by their exceptionally positive outlook and attitude.

Set in the final weekend of the year 1995 Ice Hockey World Championships, 95 tells through overlapping stories why Finland became a ice hockey world champion and how it affected the whole nation.

This rollicking sports comedy from Finnish director Markku Polonen follows the exploits of Seppo 'Sladi' Pesonen, an ex-top-tiered race car driver now reduced to instructing students at a driving school. To relieve the monotony of this undesired career, Pesonen builds "Team Susan," a road rally team based at Pekkarinen's Garage in the Finnish countryside. Soon, Sladi's nephew Luumu arrives from Helsinki and learns of the team, his enthusiasm skyrockets and he hops on board with the assist of mechanic Suko. Yet the men encounter Machiavellian sabotage at the hands of the vile Torppo, the owner of the lot that contains Pekkarinen's Garage, who is determined to interfere with the plans of Team Susan.

Year 1915. Helene Schjerfbeck lives as a forgotten artist with her elderly mother in the countryside. It has been years since the last exhibit, and Helene continues to paint only because of her passion. Everything changes when art dealer finds Helen and her 159 wonderful paintings - and wants to organize a big private exhibit. However, Helen's turning point comes only when she is introduced to Einar Reuter. Young Einar is a forester, art enthusiast, and a passionate admirer of Helene's work. He becomes Helen's trusted and lover.

An comedy set in 1960s Helsinki. The story revolves around Elsa, a resolute hatmaker who is in complete control of her life. Besides running her shop, she sometimes doubles as a fortune teller. When Jan, a Czechoslovakian jazz musician and Elsa's old lover comes to town to perform at a "peace and friendship festival", her well-organised life is jolted out of balance.

Armi Ratia is the woman behind the legendary design company Marimekko and a worldwide celebrity. A theatre company has taken on the task of trying to portray the life and work of this complex person. The sets mainly consist of the well-known patterns that we all have grown to love. Armi is a brave, risk-taking businesswoman and her passion for her company repeatedly takes its toll on her employees, finances and family. The company grows while Armi's personal life is shaken by suicide attempts and turbulence. In Armi Alive!, Oscar-nominated film producer and director Jörn Donner portrays a fascinating woman with fervent ideas about the new Finnish man, her company, fabrics and clothes.

Eden is a coming-of-age film about a Protestant Confirmation camp on a summer’s week, set in the archipelago of Helsinki. Aliisa is the intellectually confident non-believer, Jenna is the queen bee and Panu is the scared bird. The experience of these teenagers is affected by Tiina, a young and eager priest.

Group of old friends gather in a summer villa to celebrate a surprise birthday party for Mitzi, who is the dramatic focal point of the group. The weekend starts ominously when Mitzi does not respond well to the surprise party. It turns out that Mitzi has just filed for divorce and has been looking forward to a peaceful weekend. The tense situation takes a new turn when Mitzi's best friend brings her new boyfriend for a visit, who happens to be a Swedish film star. Familiar surroundings and the old rituals get to the core of the group and make them forget their adulthood. Revelations, not meant to harm the balance, make them reassess their past as well as their present.