Finnish American Documentary Trilogy
Produced & Directed by Michael Loukinen

This video trilogy, by Michael Loukinen of Marquette, is Must Viewing for anyone with any interest in Yooper culture—period!

DVD

Finnish American Lives (1982): A documentary featuring three generations of Finnish Americans living on a small family farm in Ironwood, MI: after a 92-year-old Finnish immigrant patriarch’s wife dies, the son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren are left to care for him. This film-view of the twilight of an era finds the old man with one foot in the grave, the barn falling, and the grandkids growing restless. (45 minutes)

Tradition Bearers (1983): A 16 mm documentary that blends oral history interviews with folk art presentation to tell the story of Finnish immigration and cultural adaptation in the Great Lakes region—focusing on an immigrant wood carver and a weaver (both from northeastern Minnesota), along with a second-generation lumberjack accordionist and a popular storyteller from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. (45 minutes)

Good Man in the Woods (1988): This documentary explores the lives of survivors of the traditional wilderness occupations—trappers, loggers, and commercial fishermen—who depict the unique character of the U.P. (86 minutes)

 

 

 

 

Also produced and directed by Michael Loukinen:

Medicine Fiddle (1991): This award-winning documentary explores how Native and Métis fiddlers and dancers on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border carried on the musical traditions of the French fur traders and Irish & Scottish trappers and lumberjacks who came to the region in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The ten featured fiddlers are from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Manitoba, and Ontario. (81 minutes)

 

How to Order these Loukinen DVDs  › › › ›

For the Common Good:
The History of the Työmies Newspaper (2001)

The film history of the Työmies Society of Superior, WI, the Finnish “Workingman’s” organization which lasted, amazingly, for a hundred years in the Great North Woods. Includes interviews with the ‘Last of the Mohicans.’ (90 minutes)

Produced by Tom Selinski of Duluth, MN

DVD

 

 

 

Also from Tom Selinski:

Spies in Steel : The Dollar-A-Day Man (1997)
Strikes, Strike Breakers and Company Spies

Independent filmmaker Tom Selinski of Duluth discloses some of Corporate America’s dirtiest labor dealings, as exposed by Frank L. Palmer, whose historical investigation was ultimately validated by Senate hearings.

This 70-minute film, set on the Mesabi Iron Range during the first half of the 20th century, explores the often-ignored dark side of the American Dream. Narrated by Ed Asner.

Produced by Tom Selinski of Duluth, MN

VHS