FINLAND, 2022 / 75min.
KARAOKE PARADISE
Nominations and awards: Visions Du Reel, Jussi awards – Best documentary, DOCS Barcelona
Short synopsis:
Places. People. Songs sung like a liberation, fragments of happiness, sometimes funny, sometimes painful memories. These moments of life are captured on camera during karaoke performances throughout the Finnish landscape. Joy and melancholy merge in this film’s friendly approach, which will leave a lasting impression on its audience.
Einari Paakkanen is a filmmaker focusing on human interest stories and on warm and intimate storytelling. His films have been screened globally in festivals such as the CPH:DOX, Sheffield DocFest and Visions du Reel. His latest documentary Karaoke Paradise was shortlisted for the best documentary in European Film Awards and won the Jussi Award for the Best Finnish Documentary. Einari has an MA in documentary directing from ESCAC in Barcelona. He has participated in IDFAcademy, Twelve for the Future, Ice & Fire, MFI's Script 2 Film and the Berlinale Talents - programs and was a member of the board in the Finnish Documentary Guild between 2015-2020.