Documentary, 56 min.
Year: 2006
Tobacco Girls is a film about three women, Karoliina, Tuula and Raija, who try to cope with losing their long-term jobs. After operating for 54 years in the town of Tuusula, the Amer-Tupakka tobacco company closed down in spring 2004 and 260 employees were fired. Thousands and thousands of jobs in Finnish industry have disappeared.
Finland is preparing for a new society where employees will increasingly work as specialists and consultants. The sad thing is that education lags behind for a couple of generations. What are the possibilities for uneducated women to return to the labour market? Courses must be taken just for the sake of it. Other courses that would help factory workers to get re-employed are not arranged. What is the purpose of the State’s labour force policy?
Tobacco Girls follows the life of three women for almost two years and shows through personal emotions and experiences what really happens to the unemployed factory workers.
FESTIVALS
- International 1001 Documentary Film Festival, Turkey, 2006
- Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden, 2006
- International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, 2006
- Nordic Filmdays Lubeck, Germany, 2006
- Docpoint - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Finland, 2006
- Tampere Film Festival, Finnish Competition, Finland, 2007
- Norwegian Short Film Festival, Norway, 2007
AWARDS
- Trade Union Prize, International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, 2006
- Trade Union Prize, Nordic Filmdays Lubeck, Germany, 2006
- Special Prize, Tampere Film Festival, Finland, 2007
CREW
Director and screenwriter: Tarja Mattila
Cinematography: Marita Hällfors, Timo Heinänen, Hannu Vitikainen,
E.E. Hirvonen, Heikki Ahola
Editors: Heikki Ahola, Timo Peltola
Sound: Laura Kuivalainen, Mikko Mäkelä, Pirkko Tiitinen, Katja Kostiainen, Jyrki Sahla, Mikko Paju
Music: Timo Peltola
Sound design: Martti Turunen
Producer: Arto Halonen
Production company: Art Films production AFP Ltd
