The documentary film The Living Room of the Nation by director Jukka Kärkkäinen opens a poetic, portraitlike view into six Finnish living rooms. The film is a story of changes, loneliness, responsibilities and the unavoidable passing of time.

The main characters are common Finnish people in different phases of life. Each of them are looking for something: human closeness, understanding or acceptance. The scale of events varies, but even as small and familiar, they place the characters into dramatic situations. These individual everyday experiences converge into a sensitive and momentarily surreal story of human life.

Jukka Kärkkäinen (b. 1972) has written and directed documentary films since 2003. He is a co-founder of the production company Mouka Filmi. Kärkkäinen has previously had several entries in TIFF’s “Films from the North” sidebar, including ON A PILGRIMAGE, ZETOR – BORN FREE and FAREWELL.

FILMOGRAPHY:
2003 ON A PILGRIMAGE (SHORT)
2005 ZETOR – BORN FREE / ZETOR – VAPPAANA SYNTYNYT (DOC)
2006 SMOKING ROOM / TUPAKKAHUONE (DOC)
2006 FAREWELL / JÄÄHYVÄISET (DOC)
2008 TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY (DOC)