FOREST:SYMPHONY

Kuhmo is a typical Finnish small town - with one exception: Every summer the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival turns the sleepy nest into a metropolis…

600 kilometres north of Helsinki, in the middle of the Finnish forest, lies the small town of Kuhmo. The streets are quiet, the supermarket in the center regularly goes bankrupt and important things are discussed over a beer in the sauna. In short, Kuhmo is a typical Finnish small town - with one exception: the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, which turns the small sleepy nest into a metropolis every summer. Musicians populate the streets with their instruments, crowds of people stream from concert to concert, music swirls across the lakes and crackles in the fire. In calm, observant images, Finnish director Meri Koivisto tells the story of two opposing worlds that unite once a year: The world of Pertti and Lassi, who have been best friends since childhood and now spend their retirement fishing and ice swimming, and the turbulent world of a top-class international music festival. With a great deal of humour FOREST:SYMPHONY proves that high culture in the Hinterwald is not only possible, but magical.

FOREST:SYMPHONY is a declaration of love to the director‘s home town, to the people who live there and above all to the music that enchants everything for a few weeks.

Original title Wald:Sinfonie
Genre Documentary
Recording location Kuhmo, Finland
Duration 68'
Production Company inselfilm produktion & shiny birch productions
Producer Nadja Smith, Gregor Streiber, Friedemann Hottenbacher
Distribution TV EuroArts Music
Distribution VOD EuroArts Music