SUOTERAPIA
WRITER & DIRECTOR
FICTION SHORT, 2021
(ENG - Primal Therapy)
A middle-aged man on the verge of a burnout seeks new energy through a very special form of self help therapy.
Watch on Yle Areena:
https://areena.yle.fi/1-66488051
(19 min)
Festivals and awards:
Miob in Shorts Award, Winner, 2023
Tampere Film Festival, Generation XYZ, Audience Award, 2022
Cottbus Film Festival, Special Prize for a Director, 2022
Manchester Film Festival, Best Student Film, 2022
Transilvania Shorts, Best Actor, 2022
Budapest Indie Film Festival, Best Comedy, 2022
Sydney Short Film Festival, Best Comedy, 2022
Santorini Film Festival, Best Comedy, 2022
Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Best Comedy, Nominee, 2022
LA Comedy Film Festival, Official Selection, 2023
Hollywood Shorts Fest, Honorable Mention, 2024
Encounters Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Indiecork Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Red Carpet Festari, Fiktion Parhaimmistoa, 2023
SES - Lyhyesti kerran kuussa, Elämä on juhla, 2022
Helsinki Love and Anarchy Film Festival, Official Selection, 2021
Blue Sea Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Espoo Ciné, Ciné kylässä, 2022
Crossing Europe, Official Selection, 2023
Postira Seaside Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Bolton Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
13th Parish Festival, Official Selection, 2023
Black Sea Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Tacoma Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Athens Short Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Canadian Int. Comedy Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Sedicicorto International Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
Bucharest Short Film Festival, Official Selection, 2022
European Cinematography Awards, Best Student Film, 2022
European Cinematography Awards, Best Student Film Cinematography, 2022
Arctic Film Festival, Best Student Production, Nominee, 2022
Art Giraffe Int. Film Festival, Official Selection, 2024
Riviera Punavuori, Punavuoren teatterin avajaisjuhlat, 2022
Lapinlahti Film Festival, Official Selection, 2024
JärviKino, Lyhytelokuvanäytös, 2023
Neitofestivaali, Best Film, 2021
Review of the film by Matthew Chan, Encounters Film Festival:
“There was a time, astonishingly, where portraying corporate Wall Street guys as bloodthirsty, conscience-free murderers seemed chic. Santtu Salminen understands this sentiment and with his absurdist Primal Therapy breathes new life into a tired trope. An important distinguishing factor here is the age of his protagonist, Jussi, a man past middle age seemingly at the end of the road careerwise. Years of grinding projects as “Jussi the Jock” has left him with a divorced wife, a rude child and plenty of processed food to eat. He’s practically staring down his obsolescence when the young, fit and certainly more productive Aleksi picks him up in his swanky Porsche for a corporate retreat of sorts.
The key to returning to Jussi’s prime, it appears, is to go primal, to let go of all sense of good taste, starting with your clothes and finally your morals. The pleasures of Salminen’s film stems not just from seeing naked men wrestle in an uber-masculine yet distinctly homoerotic manner, but in viewing the warped psyche of the modern capitalist. It’s a sort of body horror of the mind, where years of repression and frustration from a lack of financial success exhibit themselves in a fundamental rewiring of the brain, creating an animalistic urge to dominate, and of course, kill.”
— Matthew Chan
https://www.encounters.film/primal-therapy
CAST
Jussi: Eppu Salminen
Aleksi: Emil Kihlström
Lintubongaaja: Hannes Suominen
Jussin poika: Leo Moreau
CREW
Screenwriter & director: Santtu Salminen
Producer: Elisabeth Keinänen
Cinematographer: Elis Lindfors
Editor: Riina Saltiola
Sound design: Jaanis Hållman
Composer: Emil Sana
Production design: Jaakko Juutela
Costume design: Mira Korhonen
MUAH: Nani Auvinen
Production manager: Emma Kurki
Production coordinator: Jussi Mäkelä
1. AD: Olli Kasper
Set runner: Saara Tuomisto
Script supervisor: Rosa Salomaa
Grade: Post Control
VFX: Totte Lehtinen
3D: Teemu Hartikainen
Gaffer: Ossi Kallio
Best person: Joni Lintula
Lighting technician: Tiia Salminen, Sakari Sankkinen, Johannes Heinonen
Grip: Roni Rautavuori, Santtu Koivisto
1. AC: Nuutti Sihvonen
2. AC: Aurora Sallinen, Marko Pyykkönen
Video assistant: Tia Alm
Drone operator: Eero Liimatainen
Sound recordist: Jaanis Hållman
Boom operator: Laura Viljanen
Administrative manager: Jani Kallio
Location manager: Pyry Aitamurto, Arto Kultalahti
Catering: Mikko Ahola
Set catering: Elise Byman
Production assistant: Juho Marttinen
Runner: Matias Kylliäinen
Production designers assistant: Aleksi Luukka
Stunt driver: Henri Perttula
Stunt coordinator: Seppo Kumpulainen
First AID: Viivi Joutsen
Graphic designer: Aura Latva-Somppi
Making of: Elias Ryynänen, Veikko Timonen
English translator: Roope Salminen
Russian translator: Vladislav Sarelainen
PRODUCTION COMPANY: LuodoMedia