Pepe Willberg has travelled a winding road to this day, to the hearts of Finns and unlikely stardom. What has it all been like for a man who, in the beginning, sang only on condition that the lights in the hall were turned off? Written and directed by Severi Koivusalo, PEPE is a musical documentary about a talented musician with a unique voice, who struggles to balance his popularity with his passion for music, whose iconic songs have been playing in the background of Finnish life through seven different decades.
Max is a 25-year-old freelance writer and aspiring novelist who seems well on his way to success in London’s cultural spheres. Yet by night, he finds a different kind of exhilaration as a sex worker with the pseudonym Sebastian, meeting men via an escorting platform. Max uses his experiences as Sebastian to fuel his stories and the worthy debut novel that he has been longing to write, finally seems within reach.
PJ, a struggling screenwriter and his best friend Jami, a successful car dealer, are fed up with how painfully stuck their heads are in their ways. They decide to do something about it and rent a cabin on the Finnish archipelago for the weekend to get their minds blown - with magic mushrooms. A little getaway between the men gets out of hand when a series of coincidences turn their plans upside down.
The Singer is a film about the all-time favourite singer in Finland, Olavi Virta. A man who rose from poverty all the way to the top and became an artist who was dearly loved by the Finnish people. A man who loved beautiful women and was loved by beautiful women. A man who enjoyed speed, American cars, applause and alcohol and who finally lost everything but his unique voice.
The film tells the story of two very popular Finnish singer/songwriters: Tapio Rautavaara and Repe Helismaa, who worked together until their relationship got frictious for a long time. The film covers the years from 1949 to 1965. Since the film is based on real-life persons it also tells much about the change in Finland during those years and of course much about Finnish popular music.
A child who is the subject of a custody dispute flees from the social welfare authority from Tyräaho to Helsinki with Pekko. In the capital, the friends are helped by Pipsa, Pekko's crush, who joins them on a runaway trip. The press and the people of Tyräaho follow the trio's antics unflinchingly.