The savoyards of my youth – Kalle Päätalo's great life story
"Life is like a log – you have to clear it one log at a time."
Directed by Mikko Niskanen, The Logging of My Youth is a powerful and visually stunning portrayal of the young Kalle Päätalo growing up in pre-war Finland in the 1930s. It is an honest and unvarnished story of a young man's journey from the forestry fields of Koillismaa towards an unknown future.
The film is based on Kalle Päätalo's gritty Iijoki series. It is not just a description of hard forestry work, but a story about dreams, first love, poverty and Finnish heart. Mikko Niskanen manages to capture the soul of Päätalo's text and the rugged beauty of the nature of Koillismaa in a way that speaks to the viewer deeply.
