''Reindeerspotting: Escape from Santaland'' () is a Finnish documentary film about drug abusers in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

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 ...

. It was directed by Joonas Neuvonen and produced by Jesse Fryckman and Oskari Huttu. The first screening of the film was in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, April 2010,

. The name of the movie is a direct allusion to the 1996 British drama film ''

Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundtr ...

'' that treated the same theme from a Scottish point of view. The film was shown outside of Finland for the first time in

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Synopsis

The documentary follows several young drug abusers, but focuses on Jani Raappana. Jani is a drug addict, whose drug of choice is

Subutex Buprenorphine is an opioid used to treat opioid use disorder, acute pain, and chronic pain. It can be used under the tongue (sublingual), in the cheek (buccal), by injection (intravenous and subcutaneous), as a skin patch (transdermal), o ...

taken intravenously. He is unemployed and he finances his addiction through thefts, burglaries, and welfare payments. He deems carjacking and theft of radios as something he "specialises in", and uses it as a way to get fast money. Some of the main problems he faces is conflicts with fellow drug users, and losing two fingers in an accident. Due to the shortage of Subutex in the city, Jani starts to experience withdrawal symptoms, and suffers from the lack of substances available. After a failed burglary attempt, Jani is arrested and released after three days. The court seeks to imprison Jani for various offences, such as DUI and theft for at least a year, but sees prison as nothing special, just free food and accommodation. As his prison sentence draws near, his debt increases due to his prolonged drug use. However, he manages to steal 5000 euros from a grocery store and decides to flee Finland. Jani goes around various cities in Europe, such as Paris, London and Rome, lamenting about how free he is from Rovaniemi. However, the dealers threaten to demolish his flat and he finds himself in debt again. After running out of money, Jani returns home and is arrested two weeks later, and the film states he spent time in and out of prison for "years". The film ends with him picturing himself living an ideal life, with a cottage and a wife.

Other

The main character in the movie, Jani Raappana, travelled in May 2010 with Neuvonen, the director of the movie, to

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

. Raappana died in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

on 7 July 2010. According to the local media, Raappana hanged himself. In January 2013, the director of the film, Joonas Neuvonen, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for drug crimes. In August 2020, a sequel to the film, also directed by Neuvonen titled 'Lost Boys' was released on 25 September 2020. The film details the aftermath of the premiere of Reindeerspotting and the death of Raappana in Cambodia.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1584813, Reindeerspotting: Escape from Santaland 2010 films 2010s Finnish-language films Documentary films about drug addiction Finnish documentary films 2010 documentary films