ACTIVIST
The Activist is a portrait of a 20-year-old Otso, an anarchist and a pacifist, who refuses to perform his military service as well as his non-military service, and is sent to prison on that account. The documentary depicts Otso’s lawsuit and his everyday life filled with civil activity for a period of six months. The focus is on the discussions between Otso and his parents: the imprisonment of one’s own child is not easy to come to terms with.
The Activist paints a picture of a young person whose life and actions are determined by his idealism, an everyday fact of life. The film does not take a stand on the conflict of values between its main character and the prevalent norms of society but it does provide an unusual angle for us to look at our own values and attitudes.
Personally, I was interested in looking at the kind of people who have principles and who are willing to stand up for them in today’s world – how they accommodate themselves to a world, one of the basic values of which is denying idealism. And at the same time, a new wave of civil activism is arising world-wide, objecting to rearmament and the domination of the World Trade Organization as well as the exploitation of nature. Indeed, the question is: is there room for people like them in the western democracy…
Visa Koiso-Kanttila
film-maker VISA KOISO-KANTTILA
editing consultant ELINA KATAINEN
sound design JANNE JANKERI
composer OUTI PARKKILA
production Guerilla Films 2000
in co-operation with YLE TV2 DOKUMENTTIPROJEKTI, ILKKA VEHKALAHTI
Digibeta, DV-Cam, DVD, 34 min.
The Activist was made as a part of a documentary series entitled Eureka Eutopia, which was produced by the British Mosaic Films in cooperation with companies such as Arte, BBC and Yleisradio TV2 (Finland). The main themes of the series were the European Union and its future, being European, young people and values. The documentaries of the series were made using “a man with a camera” method and light digital video technique. The Activist is the director’s Finnish version of the documentary.