A People’s Radio – Ballads from a Wooded Country is a carnivalesque portrayal of the Finnish landscape of the soul and abode. The short film is based on the iconic YLE programme “People’s Radio”, and its visual material has been created by the road movie method of driving across summery Finland. The film paints a panorama of what Finland looks like today. Its narration progresses through humour into civic anarchy, ultimately also towards the longing for human connection.
Direction
Virpi Suutari turns a radio show into visual poetry.
Cinematography
Endless summer light captured from a moving vehicle.
Writing
Callers accidentally reveal the national psyche.
Director
Virpi Suutari
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
YLE's 'People's Radio' has run since 1961, making it Finland's longest-running open-line show—a genuine institution of unfiltered public confession.
The 'carnivalesque' structure deliberately inverts documentary conventions: Suutari lets anonymous voices drive the narrative while the landscape becomes character, not backdrop.
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