Videos

Over the years Members of our Board of Directors have produced a number of films and videos related to the Finnish Labour Temple, the Finnish-Canadian experience or on topics related to our region. If you enjoy any of these films, please feel free to contribute to the Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple so that we can support the continued production of audio/visual materials of this nature.

Going with the Grain: Rail meets Inland Sea at the Lakehead

Going with the Grain (2019) Animation by Adrien Harpelle and Alyssa Kusik
Original music composed and performed by Danny Johnson
Drone Footage from Justin Robinson
Edited by Kelly Saxberg
Sound edit & Mix by Adrien Harpelle

Finn Festival Thunder Bay 2019

Finn Festival Thunder Bay 2019 Thank-You Thunder Bay!
Music by Marc Meriläinen | Highlight Reel by Skyler J.A.Duggan

Where the Poppies Grow: The Lakehead at War

A docu-drama about World War 1 and the contributions of the men and women at the Lakehead. When the Great War ended In November 1918, the people of the Lakehead could take pride in the contributions they had made. Over 6,200 people enlisted either as volunteers or conscripts. At home, the community supported the war by raising money to assist soldiers’ wives, children, and other dependents. There were also campaigns to help finance the purchase of military equipment and to send personal items to the soldiers overseas. Bandages were rolled, shirts and underwear were sewn, and socks, sweaters, toques, and scarves were knitted by women for loved ones. By the end of the conflict, approximately 300 men and women from the Lakehead were killed overseas or died of illness due to their war service. Thousands more were wounded in body and mind. Where the Poppies Grow is a docu-drama that looks at the sacrifices made by people from the Lakehead to secure victory in the war.

Under the Red Star

Under the Red Star (2011) is a feature-length docu-drama about Finnish immigration and settlement in Northwestern Ontario. This film tells the story of the cultural and political ferment centred around Port Arthur’s Finnish Labour Temple. The film chronicles the story of the Finnish immigrants who built Canada’s largest labour hall and used it as a centre for their activities. The courage of these newcomers in the face of government and police crackdowns helped shape Canadian labour history. Under the Red Star melds fictionalized scenes with archival footage and photos to vividly recreate the lives and passions of these early twentieth-century activists.

Letters From Karelia

Letters From Karelia (2004) is a national Film Board of Canada feature length documentary on the migration of Finnish-Canadians from Thunder Bay and elsewhere to Soviet Karelia in the early 1930s.
Taimi Pitkanen last saw her brother Aate at a railway station in 1931. Taimi was returning to Canada from Moscow; Aate was headed for Soviet Karelia, on the border with Finland, where his skills in electricity and languages – both English and Finnish – were badly needed. Aate never came back. Even when the dream went sour, Aate held on, writing home until, in 1941, Hitler attacked the USSR. After that, no one in Canada heard anything more of Aate Pitkanen. Sixty years later, the discovery of his last letters – written but never mailed from a Finnish prisoner-of-war camp.

https://vimeo.com/manage/20276087/general

Volunteers Make Life Better

Volunteers Make Life Better (2012) is a short publicity spot to support the volunteers who make the activities of the Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple possible. It stars Jari Sarkka, a friend of the Finnish Labour Temple who passed away in 2013.

Pulp Friction

Pulp Friction (Director – Ron Harpelle, 2014) a one-hour documentary funded by an SSHRC Outreach Grant. It looks at the changing fortunes of three communities; Kemijärvi Finland, Terrace Bay, Ontario and Piedras Coloradas, Uruguay. The content is in English, Spanish and Finnish.

Bottoms Up!

Bottoms up! (Director – Kelly Saxberg, 2005) is a video made to raise funds to support the Heritage Building Fund which raised money to refurbish the Finnish Labour Temple. The film stars Thunder Bay’s own Ivanka (Jo- Ann Waytowich) and Marc Metsaranta. Construction began in 2010 and finished in 2014. It screened several times during the 1st Annual Bay Street Film Festival which donated over S2000.00 from silver platter collection.

The Hoito Project

The Hoito Project (Director – Kelly Saxberg, 2006) was a DVD/CD fundraiser collection to help restore the Finnish Labour Temple on Bay Street in Thunder Bay. This one hour compilation DVD features local musicians who recorded with Finnish guitarist Jukka Tolonen and his band, Cool Train, when they came to Thunder Bay in 2006.

This CD was created as a special fund raising project in aid of the Finnish Labour Temple restoration initiative.
This special fund raising project could not have happened without help from the following: Shebandowan Films, RealTV Realty Inc., Finlandia Club of Port Arthur, Danalog Studios, Akbazar Oy,

Included on the CD are:

Finnish Pancake Jam batter by Ari Lahdekorpi
baked by Jukka Tolonen & Cool Train
The Finnish Labour Temple Rumba Written by Esteban Figueroa
Performed by Esteban Figueroa and Jukka Tolonen
Kesa (Summer) Written By Kim Erickson
Performed by Kim Erickson and Cool Train
Arrangement by Cool Train
The Finnish Labour Temple Song
Written by Rodney Brown
Performed by Rodney Brown and Cool Train
Arrangement by Cool Train
Fortunately Someone
Written by Danny Johnson
Performed by Danny Johnson and Cool Train
Laulu Written by Feodor Pratsu
Arranged and Performed by the Jouhiorkesteri
Soloist: Pekko Kappi

The Hoito Project CD was produced by Ari Lahdekorpi
Recorded by Danny Johnson at Danalog Studios
Mixed by Danny Johnson
Additional instrumentation by Ari Lahdekorpi and Danny Johnson

Who was Sylvia?

Who was Sylvia? (2012) is a short film directed by Kelly Saxberg and made by the Flash Frame Film and Video Network as part of International Documentary Challenge. It tells the story of letters and photos found in an abandoned log cabin belonging to Finnish immigrants.

Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple