Mika Ronkainen (born 6 August 1970) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

film director and screenwriter from

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

, Northern

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 ...

. Ronkainen is the co-creator and director of successful crime drama '' All the Sins'' and he has also worked with documentary films and theatre. In June 2013 American magazine ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' selected Ronkainen as one of ten up-and-coming European directors to watch.

Career

Documentaries

Ronkainen's international breakthrough film was '' Screaming Men (2003)'', a documentary film about a Finnish screaming male choir called Mieskuoro Huutajat, followed by '' Freetime Machos (2009)'', a documentary film about a rugby team which is allegedly the most northern and the third lousiest in the world. Screaming Men had its US premiere at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in 2004, and Freetime Machos at

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

in 2010. Ronkainen's latest documentary film is a musical road movie called ''

Finnish Blood Swedish Heart ''Finnish Blood Swedish Heart'' is a 2013 documentary film by Mika Ronkainen about a Finnish father and son revisiting their former home in Sweden. The film won two Jussi Awards (Finnish Oscars) in 2014: Best Documentary and Best Music, and the Dra ...

'', also known as ''Ingen riktig finne'' in Swedish, and ''Laulu koti-ikävästä'' in Finnish. The film has been awarded with several awards including two

Jussi Award The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers. History The first Jussi Awards ceremony was held on 16 November 1944 at the Restaurant Adlon in Hels ...

s (Finnish Oscars) in 2014: Best Documentary and Best Music, and the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Documentary at

Göteborg 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 larg ...

in 2013. Ronkainen adapted the documentary as a theatre play, which had its premiere at Oulu City Theatre in 2016.

Fiction

Ronkainen's first TV series, '' All the Sins'', a crime-drama that's set in Northern Finland, two seasons of which were released in 2019 and 2020. Ronkainen directed and co-wrote the series. In January 2019, '' All the Sins'' was awarded with Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize at

Gothenburg 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 larg ...

in Sweden "''for outstanding writing of a Nordic drama series''".

Other

Ronkainen is one of the founders of

Air Guitar World Championships Air Guitar World Championships (AGWC) is an annual event taking place in Oulu, Finland. AGWC was arranged for the first time in 1996. Today, national championships are held all around the world. Playing air guitar is based on mimicking guitar playi ...

which is organized annually in his hometown

, Finland.

Filmography

TV series

* '' All the Sins'' Season 1 and 2 (2019-20)

Documentaries

* ''

'' (2013) * '' Freetime Machos'' (2009) * ''Our Summer'' (2004) * '' Screaming Men'' (2003) * ''Car Bonus'' (2001) * ''Before the Flood'' (2000) * ''The World Will Change Soon'' (2000) * ''Oulu Burning – A Town That Disappeared'' (1998) * ''Father's Day'' (1998)

Concert Film

* Sentenced – ''Buried Alive'' (concert film) (2006)

References

External links

* 1970 births Living people People from Kuusamo Finnish film directors {{Finland-film-director-stub