A stone left unturned

'This film is storytelling in a nutshell. On the one hand the film is about the delicate relationship between father and son, and on the other hand about the strained relationship between men and community, society. The film follows father and son farming, hunting moose, attending cattle, at the Easter bonfires etc. The father doesn't appreciate the son at all - an understatement if there ever was one - and both of them don't want to rely on any outside help, not even when confronted, again and again, by the most serious mishaps. 'A Stone Left Unturned' is, of course, a tragicomedy. With just two characters the film portrays the whole society. At the time of the production, both the scriptwriter and director were still at film school, and was the director's first real professional film. With their stubborness, speechlessness and their difficulty to show emotion, the two main characters are Finnish archetypes immediately recognised in Finland. However, even to the surprise of the filmmakers, the delicate relationship between parent and child is such a universal theme that the film has been appreciated world over. So far 'A Stone Left Unturned' has been awarded first prizes at the Festival of Festivals, Arhus, Denmark, and at the Film and TV Festival, Geneva, plus Critics' Prize at Festival de Cine de Huesca, Spain, and Best Fiction Prize at the Tampere International Short Film Festival. The film was among the five nominees for the best European short film in the year 2000.