Tour around the Gulf of Finland brings documentary to its subjects

The Detour will be seen in Turku Dec. 17th

Major events and small, yet crucial moments. These have been revealed by two young French filmmakers who in 2010 traversed a journey from Turku to Tallinn with a video camera. They built a website from the materials they gathered on their first journey and the second time around, they made an in-depth film which had the Finnish premiére December 7th.

On the way Nicolas Pannetier and Simon Brunel from Atelier Limo met with three generations of people full of secrets, national identities and dreams.

From the materials they gathered on their first journey, the pair built a website that presents information, pictures, videos and maps from 121 stops along the way. The second time around, they returned to make an in-depth film with five characters and a choral group they had met previously.

War, independence, identity, collaboration

“Being French, it was easy for us to approach people and sensitive topics as outsiders. Still, we didn’t start by directly asking people about their personal memories. We often approached the topic through buildings. When we asked about the histories of various buildings and monuments, the answers often expanded to include personal thoughts and memories,” says Nicolas Pannetier.  

The filmmakers had been pre-warned that people would not be keen to talk – especially Finns. However, they always found subjects who were interested in going over local history and sharing their memories.

“We provided listening ears and people appreciated that,” says Brunel. On the journey they found out that the differences in memories were greater between generations than between nationalities.

“There is a road from Turku to Tallinn that connects Finland, Russia and Estonia. We tell the three nations’ shared story, not a national history from a single perspective.

The film reflects the human side of the great upheavals of the twentieth century through people’s own stories,” the filmmakers explain.

The film tour begins and ends at Turku

The documentary The Detour by Atelier Limo started its premiere tour in Tallinn on 29 September. The film will be shown in 20 locations in Estonia, Russia and Finland surrounding the Gulf of Finland.

The tour will end in Turku, where the documentary was shown on Wednesday 7 December at 5 pm at Åbo Svenska Teater. After the premiere, the Studio hosted a discussion with the filmmakers on the thoughts and feelings aroused by the film.

The last screening is on Saturday 17 December at 3 pm at the Manilla Theatre. The second screening will form a part of the weekend of thanks that will close the Capital of Culture year.