In the heart of the Finnish forest, the long-closed foundry of the little town of Karkkila has come back to life thanks to director Aki Kaurismäki and his creation of the town's first cinema. The peace and calm of the little town of Karkkila, nestled deep in the Finnish forest, is interrupted by unexpected sounds. In the abandoned foundry, noisy building work is taking place. Inside the building, Aki Kaurismäki is both builder and site manager of what is soon to become the Kino Laika cinema. The creation of the cinema is the talk of the town. In the factory still in activity, in a 1960s Cadillac, in a bikers' club, in the local pub, in the woods or in Aki Kaurismäki's former editing room, people start talking about cinema again.
Mikko Myllylahti was born and raised in Northern Finland, in a small town called Tornio. He has a background in poetry yet graduated as a MA in Screenwriting and Fiction Directing from ELO Helsinki Film School. His short films include The Tiger (Cannes Critics’ Week 2018) and Love in Vain (Locarno 2009), and his first feature script was Juho Kuosmanen’s debut The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, which won the Prix un Certain Regard in Cannes 2016.