Seamstress

Sep 25, 2015

1h 33m

★ 7.2

So great is to die and live for happiness and freedom

Overview

A documentary film about Martta Koskinen, the last executed woman in Finland during the war in 1943. Martta was a Seamstress who lived in Helsinki during the Second World War. She was one of the post-civil war (in 1918) generation for whom the war had meant a disappointment in the system and failure in unity of the Finnish nation. The legacy of the civil war had left systems of persecution in place for those with socialist ideals. Martta and her fellow revolutionaries were determined to continue the resistance movement although they knew that at worst it could cost their lives. Martta was imprisoned twice before she was shot. She was an idealist, whose seemingly harmless, naive beliefs in peace and justice were the most dangerous traits a person could have at the time.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Illume

Seamstress Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Herself (Archive footage)

Martta Koskinen

Martta Koskinen (voice)

Vera Kiiskinen

Narrator (voice)

Pekka Milonoff

Hertta Kuusinen (voice)

Laura Birn

Mirjam Koskinen (voice)

Elena Leeve

Elvi Sinervo (voice)

Vilma Melasniemi

EK:n / Valpon etsivä (voice)

Taisto Oksanen

EK:n / Valpon etsivä (voice)

Antti Seppänen

EK:n / Valpon etsivä (voice)

Antti Virmavirta

Elma Wahlsten (voice)

Merja Ritola

Emil Soinala (voice)

Seppo Louhi

Hj. A. Paunu (voice)

Nicholas Wancke

In Portugal, during the night of April 24-25, 1974, a peaceful uprising put an end to the last government of the Estado Novo, the authoritarian regime established in 1933 by dictator António de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970), paving the way for full democracy: a chronicle of the Carnation Revolution.

6.0

Lynx Man

Sep 1, 2023

A Finnish equivalent of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, Hannu has a love and connection to nature that surpasses most. It is the rare lynx in particular that has bitten into Hannu’s heart – so much so that he actually claims to be able to speak its language. So when a dead lynx turns up in his forest, he dons an animal mask, crawls down on all fours and sniffs out the mystery through the mire and thicket. With hauntingly beautiful footage captured by hidden cameras throughout the forest, ‘Lynx Man’ paints a colourful and vivid twilight picture of the natural world around us – and of man’s impact on it. For no matter what Hannu does to live in harmony with the animals, he cannot hide from belonging himself to the species that is the lynx’s worst enemy. It makes sense that most of Juha Suonpää’s atmospheric film takes place in the twilight between dream and reality. Here, the vast forests come alive in Hannu’s hypnotic Night Vision footage of the nocturnal life of the lynx.

0.0

Naalin paluu

Jan 2, 2023

The film follows two years of the extremely endangered arctic fox's attempt to return to Finnish nature as a breeding species, as well as the people who try to save the species. Kimmo Ohtonen's tireless toil is finally rewarded, when he manages to capture for the first time in Finland the journey of an arctic fox family in almost 30 years, from the start of romance to raising pups. This is the first time that the reproduction of an arctic fox has been recorded on video. There is a unique journey in the foothills of the North, culminating in a historic event.

3.0

The History of the Civil War

Jun 1, 1921

The epic story of the Russian Civil War (1918-21): the White Terror, the counterrevolutionary uprisings, the guerrilla war, the Kolchak front, the Wrangel front and the Kronstadt rebellion. Chaos and violence, devastation and death.

0.0

Torn from the Flag

Nov 10, 2007

A sociopolitical historical documentary-thriller about the international decline of communism and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

No Image Available

0.0

Köyhät, nöyrät ja häpeämättömät

Nov 4, 1999

Documentary film about four families in Pori, Finland, all struggling with unemployment and poverty.

8.0

30 Years of Democracy

Dec 22, 2019

Two journalists born in the mid '80s decide to take a look back at how their country changed in the last 30 years since the fall of communism. The end product is a documentary containing footage of political events and historical milestones significant to Romania accompanied by a narrator's voice walking the viewer through the events, and also interviews with Romanian politicians and other influential public figures sharing their thoughts and their different views on those events.

0.0

The Girls

Jun 27, 2014

Four lucid grandmothers tell their story forgotten by history: the militancy and resistance of the young women of the leftist youth against the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

1.0

Leninland

Nov 30, 2013

At the peak of Perestroika, in 1987, in the village of Gorki, where Lenin spent his last years, after a long construction, the last and most grandiose museum of the Leader was opened. Soon after the opening, the ideology changed, and the flow of pilgrims gradually dried up. Despite this, the museum still works and the management is looking for ways to attract visitors. Faithful to the Lenin keepers of the museum as they can resist the onset of commercialization. The film tells about the modern life of this amazing museum-reserve and its employees.

0.0

On Rubik's Road

Apr 5, 2010

Rubiks’ Road is a bicycle path built in the 1980s and named after Alfreds Rubiks, leader of the Latvian Communist party at the time. One of the most ferocious opposers to Latvia’s independence in the early 1990s and later elected to the European Parliament.

No Image Available

0.0

Red Storm Rising: The Struggle for the American Communist Party

Mar 17, 2025

Red Storm Rising” looks at the rise and fall of the American Communist Party, examining its political context, its leadership, its appeal to the American public, and why it never became mainstream.

6.6

Kymatica

Feb 1, 2009

Ben Stewart, the bright young musician and philosopher who brought us the sleeper hit "Esoteric Agenda", unveils his new work, Kymatica!. Kymatica will venture into the realm of Cymatics and Shamanic practices. It will offer insight into the human psyche and discuss matters of spirituality, altered states of consciousness and much more! Not to be missed!

4.0

How to Fix the World

Mar 28, 2023

How to Fix the World? is a comprehensive and informative documentary about direct action in the 1990s and 2000s, directed by Jouko Aaltonen. In the documentary, anarchists, climate activists, and squatters openly describe their experiences and link them to mainstream phenomena in society. A wide range of archive material sheds a light on the history of direct action and activism in the Finnish society.

0.0

At Home in Utopia

Jan 1, 2008

During the economic boom of the 1920s, thousands of immigrant Jewish factory workers managed to build the house of their dreams, a cooperative apartment complex at the edge of Bronx Park. Then they were hit by the Great Depression. At Home in Utopia bears witness to an epic social experiment across two generations in the Coops - a place known as "little Moscow" - where people tried to change the American dream into one that included racial justice and workers' rights.

5.3

Silicon Valley, Baby.

Jan 30, 2020

Finnish award-winning barista Kalle Freese travels to San Francisco with his girlfriend to start an instant coffee start-up with big goals. At stake are Kalle's health, relationship and the newly formed start-up.

4.8

Kelet

Jan 29, 2020

Kelet is a twentysomething black trans woman, whose greatest dream is to be on the cover of Vogue magazine. For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, such models as Naomi Campbell and Iman served as role models giving her strength – and during the darkest times, kept her alive. After coming out, then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family and she moved back to Finland on her own.

7.5

Cuba and the Cameraman

Sep 8, 2017

This revealing portrait of Cuba follows the lives of Fidel Castro and three Cuban families affected by his policies over the last four decades.

6.7

Alfred

Dec 31, 1986

Short biographical documentary about the life of Alfred Florstedt and his life as a progressive communist from the Weimar Republic to his death in 1985.

6.3

The Russian Revolution

Jun 15, 2017

Starting in 1881 this film shows the personal battle between Lenin's Ulyanov family and the royal Romanovs that eventually led to the Russian revolution.

6.8

Emergency Call - A Murder Mystery

Oct 3, 2014

A father of four children gets brutally stabbed several times, with the children present in the family home. During the brutal action, his wife – Anneli Auer – is on the phone to the emergency center. Emergency Call – A Murder Mystery is a documentary film tracking down the story that unfolds after the fatal night. We hear from all emerging sides as the prosecution builds its case against the mother of four. A behind the scenes look into one of the most bizarre unsolved court cases in recent Finnish history.