The Midwife

The Midwife film is based on Katja Kettu's award-winning, best-selling novel of the same name. Antti J. Jokinen has co-written the screenplay with Katja Kettu.

Synopsis

The Midwife is a love film set in the specific historical context of the Lapland War. The moral and humanistic setting is exceptionally strong, as the love story is infused with both Nazi ideology and the inhumane treatment of prisoners of war. The film deals with the love experienced by the title character, a love so strong that the dictates and whispers of morality and conscience are ignored. The Midwife Helena, dubbed the 'quick-eye', falls in love with the German-Finnish SS officer Johannes Angelhurst, for whom she is the Wild Eye, a force of nature unlike any other woman. The story takes place mainly in Petsamo Parkkina, the Titovka prison camp and the so-called Dead Man's Mountain, a remote and cursed place whose exact location on the Arctic Ocean cannot be determined. Operation 1005, the experiments on prisoners and the practices of the prison camp, familiar from the history books, will be shown. Through John's personal history, the film also offers a glimpse into the soul of a soldier wracked by guilt. All the central characters are struggling with their past in their own way. By loving powerfully, history cannot be erased, not even forgotten; but in the end, goodness triumphs over evil.

Comments by the director Antti J. Jokinen
The film has been worked on like the Church of Isaac and the pieces are now in place. We have been rehearsing, costuming and staging since Christmas. For example, the whole Titovka military camp has been built as a set. From production to finished film, this is a big drama. I am happy with all aspects and the rest is then my responsibility. The success of the film certainly does not depend on top actors. The Midwife is a film about Laplanders who find themselves in a difficult situation in the autumn of 1944. Fortunately for me, the war in Lapland has been dealt with very little as a subject and I also get to present a history that linked Finland to the politics of Europe as a whole. I was less interested in the Nazi stigmas of the past, although they are also present in the film. Above all, however, the film is about love and individuals. They were not interested in political terminology and the causes of war at the time. It is therefore a pleasure for me to film such a war-torn but very soulful drama.

ROLES INCLUDE:
Helena – KRISTA KOSONEN
Johannes – LAURI TILKANEN
Jouni – PIRKKA-PEKKA PETELIUS
Aune – LEEA KLEMOLA
Björne – SEPPO PÄÄKKÖNEN
Heta – ELINA KNIHTILÄ
Gödel – TOMMI KORPELA
Aleksei – JOHANNES BROTHERUS