SLOTFILM: The Missile

All good things come to an end, as is also the case with Noordelijk Film Festival Leeuwarden. But what is better than to close the festival by coming together one last time in the Grote Zaal in city theatre De Harmonie? This year, the closing film is: The Missile.

Finnish Lapland, 1984. Niina, is a single mother of two children. After an absurd jumble of events, Niina ends up as an archiver in the local newspaper. One day, Niina hears an enormous bang from the sky – the radio says that the Soviet Union has shot a missile across the Finnish border to Inari: soon the whole village is filled with reporters from all over the world. Niina knows the area and its people, so she is drawn into the investigation of the missile incident and the threat of nuclear war. Niina meets Kai, a fighter pilot who knows secrets about the missile, and a relationship between the two develops. As Niina obsesses about the missile`s truth, she confronts the truth about her own boundaries. Niina is looking for serenity in a violent world and when she finally detaches from her ex-husband, the truth about the missile is brought to daylight.

Miia Tervo's debut film Aurora was screened at the Noordelijk Film Festival in 2019 and received multiple awards in Scandinavia. Her second feature The Missile (original titel: Ohjus) is based on the true story of a Russian missile that crashed at Lake Inari in 1984. Actress Oona Airola won the Dragon Award for Best Acting at the Göteborg Film Festival, for her role as Niina.