Best Finnish history movies

The Battle of Näsilinna 1918 (2012)

Depicting the Finnish Civil War from the White army's point of view. Lieutenant Melin's soldiers mission is to penetrate the heart of the city and overtake the Nasilinna Palace from the Reds.

Evakko (1956)

Evakko is a portrayal of Soviet-Finnish winter war of 1939/40 and the associated evacuations in different parts of the country. It tells the story of a Karelian family along with their whole village who were forced to leave their homes because of the war. The film has a surprisingly perky tone for the subject matter.

Friends, Comrades (1990)

The boisterous good humor of Jurmala, the nickel-mine owner, is, if anything, only barely dented by the raging battles in Finland before, during and after World War Two. In fact, everywhere he goes, he meets prospective customers on all sides of the conflict with his all-inclusive greeting "Friends, Comrades." Indeed, the resource he is wrenching from the earth's bowels is necessary to all forms of industrial activity, and is especially necessary for military applications. Thus, he has no reason to fear that he will ever run out of customers. This doesn't prevent him from using every possible means to entice them. At home, his relationship with his wife is not so prosperous, and they resort to some extraordinary means to try and keep on an even keel.

Raptures (2025)

Rakel is a strict Christian believer living in the far north of 1930s Sweden. When her husband forms a sectarian movement, with directions straight from God, she has no choice but to join the increasingly explicit cult.

Katariina ja Munkkiniemen kreivi (1943)

Wager is Count Mauritz Armborg, the young master of the estate. Linnanheimo plays Katariina (Catherine) the nanny to Mauritz's nieces and nephews. The two fall in love and decide to escape to Italy via Denmark where they have planned to get married. There are always complications because Mauritz's grandmother doesn't want him to marry below him - she has decided that Mauritz is to marry the Swedish beauty, Ingeborg Liliecrona.

The Border (2007)

The young man must set up a clear border between Finland and Russia, white and red, enemy and friend, us and them. While the task seems clear he finds out the execution of his command in concrete situations is very difficult. Right choices turn out to be wrong ones and correcting them make things worse.

Stars Above (2012)

Stars above follows the stories of three women from the same family across three different decades. The main characters – Saima, Tuulikki and Salla – each lives in the same country house. Saima´s story takes place in the war time 1942, when Finland fought against Soviet Union, Tuulikki´s story in colourful year 1978 and Salla´s story in the present day. Each woman is between 30 and 40. This deep and beautiful, yet humorous film pictures the encounters between people and the possibilities for choice. How much does the time we live in affect us - and our ability to hold on to our dreams? What are those things which we pass on from one generation to the next? What changes, what remains the same? And to what extent do mothers´ choices, let alone their unspoken secrets, affect their daughters´ lives?

Shadow of the Eagle (2005)

The story of a young poet who became a symbol for Finnish optimism and was subsequently forced underground during Tsar Nicholas II's oppressive dictatorship.

Tanssi yli hautojen (1950)

In the early 1800s, Finnish governor's daughter first detests but soon falls in love with Russian Czar Alexander I who has just taken Finland over from Sweden's rule.

Äl' yli päästä perhanaa (1968)

Mosku: The Last of His Kind (2003)

A story about the life of reindeer emperor Mosku in Eastern Lapland at the beginning of the 20th century, when social conditions and the practice of traditional livelihoods are in transition. Mosku is involved in reindeer disputes and skirmishes and is also involved in the bandit hunt on the side of Soviet Russia led by Wallenius, the commander of the Lapland border guard.

Sibelius (2003)

Director Timo Koivusalo point of view about life of classical music composer Jean Sibelius, who is a national composer of Finland.

Here, Beneath the North Star (1968)

Täällä Pohjantähden alla is based on the book with the same title. It is a story of the little village. The movie starts in the 1890's and it ends to the Finnish civil war in 1918. Story concentrates around a tenant farmer family, although it gives us a good look at the society at whole. While the class struggle depends, people of the village are driven to bloody civil war.

Maria's Paradise (2019)

A teenage orphan girl Salome lives within a sect lead by charismatic and ruthless Maria Åkerblom. During a pivotal summer, Salome is faced with standing up against Maria, the woman who had saved her.

Nummisuutarit (1938)

Lapin kullan kimallus (1999)

In 1860s Lapland, gold diggers Jakob Ervast and Nils Lepistö, who previously worked in California, embark on an arduous journey towards the north. The friends find gold at the first excavation site, which Kittilä's crown prince Konrad Planting and Edvard Manninen also start looking for.

The Life of Aleksis Kivi (2002)

Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) was a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, "Seven Brothers/Seitsemän veljestä". Although Kivi was among the very earliest authors of prose and lyrics in Finnish language, he is still considered one of the greatest of them all.

Where Once We Walked (2011)

The stories of the aristocratic Lilliehjelm family, the middle-class Widing family and the poor Kajander family from the Finland's independence through the Civil War and the Roaring Twenties ending during the Second World War.

Seitsemän veljestä (1939)

Based on a novel by Aleksis Kivi. Follows the story of seven brothers of Jukola in 19th century Finland.

Tammisunnuntai 1918 (2017)

Dramatized documentary of the early hours of Finland's Civil War in January 1918.

Elinan surma (1938)

Young and innocent maid Elina is persuaded into forgetting her childhood sweetheart Uolevi, and to marry Klaus Kurki, a local nobleman with money and influence. An ideal match according to her family and the greedy parish priest, but all is not as it seems: Kurki is a vicious man, tormented by the spirit of his last wife.

Punainen viiva (1959)

The story of the first elections in Finland

Tsamo (2015)

In the 1860’s Alaska and Finland are simultaneously parts of the Russian Empire. A Finnish mining engineer Simon buys a Tlingit girl named Tsamo and decides to bring her to Finland. The child, Tsamo, is baptized and Simon starts to teach her European manners. Tsamo thinks she’s married to Simon and acts accordingly, but when Simon marries a lady of his own age and class, she gets confused. Simon is forced to send the girl away and the battle over Tsamo’s identity takes complicated turns.

Helmikuun manifesti (1939)

February Manifesto was Yrjö Norta's and Toivo Särkkä's Finnish movie from 1939. It is a Finnish historical drama about developing independency based on book of the writer Mika Waltari. Movie Starring Tauno Palo and Regina Linnanheimo. For it's anti-soviet thematics it was banned in Finland from 1944 to 1987.

Mommilan veriteot 1917 (1973)

On the eve of the Finnish Civil War, the film follows the last days of Alfred Kordelin, the richest man in Finland.

Sveaborg (1972)

The film is based on history of the Russian Military garrison in Sveaborg (Suomenlinna, near Helsinki) in Finland, which was an autonomous part of Russian Empire. In 1906 Russia had about 12 thousand troops stationed in Sveaborg fortress. The riots were provoked by the Socialist - Revolutionaries who spread influence on the minds of Sveaborg garrison. First acts of un-subordination broke on July 17, 1906, when revolutionary sailors were supported by mine-men. Minemen were arrested and disarmed by the infantry regiment. Gunners decided to release their comrades. The following fight ignited a bloody revolt, that was headed by lieutenants A. Yemelyanov and Y. Kohansky, members of the Lenin's Bolshevik party. A general strike began in Helsinki on the next day. The revolt lasted three days and was crushed by the Baltic Fleet naval bombardment. Over 40 men were executed, hundreds were sentenced to prison.

Risti ja liekki (1957)

Set in early 16th century Finland, a knight Olavi Gideoninpoika meets Mirjam Raakelintytär and falls in love. Mirjami hides in a monastery disguised as a choir boy, but is revealed by a monk Rasmus, who also desires her, and is put on trial.

Aktivistit (1939)

In 1916, Finland is still a part of Russian Empire. Eugen Schauman murders the governor of Finland, and his fellow activists take on smaller tasks in the fight for freedom.

Seven Songs from the Tundra (2000)

An anthology of stories about the indigenous nomadic people of the Russian tundra under modern Communist rule. Finland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000

Never Alone (2025)

1942. The State of Finland has formed an alliance with Nazi Germany. An elderly man single-handedly tries to stop a secret attempt by the Finnish State Police to hand over Jewish refugees directly to the Gestapo.