''Letters to Father Jacob'' ( fi, Postia pappi Jaakobille) is a 2009 Finnish drama film written and directed by

Klaus Härö Klaus Härö (born 31 March 1971 in Porvoo, Finland) is a Finnish film director. In 2004, he won Finland's State Prize for Art. Härö grew up in a Swedish-speaking Finnish family. He studied directing and attended screen writing seminars at the ...

. Set in the early 1970s and based on a story by Jaana Makkonen, the film tells the story of Leila, a pardoned convict, who becomes an assistant to a blind priest, Jacob. The film depicts her transformation from a sceptic who grudgingly reads letters aloud to her benefactor into a caring savior of the pastor from his despair after the letters stop coming.Lasse Saarinen
Synopsis
imdb.com. Retrieved 2010-10-08. In 2022, the film was chosen as the "most touching Finnish film of the 21st century" in the '' Helsingin Sanomat'' readers' vote.

Locations

Exteriors were filmed at St. Olaf's Church in

Sastamala Sastamala () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Pirkanmaa region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water, making it the largest municipality in the Pirkanmaa region in terms of area. The ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

(''Pyhän Olavin kirkko''). The interiors were filmed at Holy Cross Church in

Hattula Hattula is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is part of the Tavastia Proper regions of Finland, region and until 2010 it was located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland. Hattula is almost completely surr ...

(''Pyhän Ristin kirkko'').

Accolades

Nordic Film Days, Lübeck, Germany, 4.–8.11.2009
Interfilm Church Prize
Audience Award 58th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg, Germany, 5.–15.11.2009
Main Award 33rd

Cairo International Film Festival The Cairo International Film Festival ( ar, مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي) is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year si ...

, Egypt, 10.–20.11.2009
The Golden Pyramid for the Best Film
The Prize for the Best Screenwriter (Klaus Härö)

Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, or PÖFF ( et, Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is the only festival in Northern Europe or the Baltic region with a FIA ...

, Tallinn, Estonia, 27.11.-6.12.2009
Jury Prize for the Best Director 28th

Fajr International Film Festival Iran's annual Fajr International Film Festival ( fa, جشنواره بین‌المللی فیلم فجر), or Fajr Film Festival (little: FIFF; fa, جشنواره فیلم فجر), has been held every February and April in Tehran since 1982. T ...

, Iran, 1.–11.2.2010
Crystal Simorgh Prize for the Best Film in the Competition of Quest for Truth & Justice 33rd

Göteborg International Film Festival Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the la ...

, Sweden, 29.1.–8.2.2010
Nordic Film Music Prize (composer Dan Strömbäck) Santa Barbara International Film Festival, USA, 4.–14.2.2010
The Best International Film Award Festival du Cinéma Nordique, Rouen, France, 10.–21.3.2010
Best Actress Award (Kaarina Hazard)
Best Actor Award (Heikki Nousiainen)
Audience Award Cape Winelands Film Festival, South Africa, 17.–27.3.2010
Special Mention Award (actor Heikki Nousiainen)

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens around 230 films ...

, 21.3.–11.4.2010
SIGNIS Commendation

RiverRun International Film Festival The RiverRun International Film Festival is an annual Oscar-qualifying film festival held each spring in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The festival is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and presents a variety of feature-length and short films fro ...

, NC, USA, 15.–25.4.2010
BB&T Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature

Festroia The Tróia International Film Festival, commonly referred to as Festroia ( pt, Festival Internacional de Cinema de Tróia – Festróia) was an annual international film festival in Portugal held from 1985 to 2014. Held in the town of Setúbal and ...

, Portugal, 4.–13.6.2010
Prize Man and His Environment Festival de Cine de Huesca, Spain, 4.–12.6.2010
Audience Award

References

External links

* 2009 drama films 2009 films Films about religion Films directed by Klaus Härö 2000s Finnish-language films Finnish drama films {{Finland-film-stub