DocPoint raises the curtain today for five days of excellent documentary films. The opening film of the festival is Y in Vybord by Pia Andell, a fascinating story of an architect couple separated by the second world war. Andell used original correspondence and film material to create a glimpse into the personal side of history, as many Finnish families shared their experiences. Another premiere today is Miia Jonkkas Keijupuisto – Home of the Homeless, a peek into the lives of the residents at a homeless’ shelter. DocPoint’s opening day also marks the beginning of a new tradition: the documentary fi lm producer and director Jarmo Jääskeläinen will receive
the new Apollo prize.
In the evening, we will swap films for Portuguese fado at the opening club at Vanha.

Grippingly intimate
The series of Japanese fi lms is kicked off with Extremely Private Eros Love Song 1974 (1974) by Kazuo Hara who is also attending DocPoint this year. The fi lm is an exceptionally personal portrait of the director’s own relationship to Miyuki, his formerlover and the mother of his child. As a documentary
film depicting experiences this private, Hara’s fi lm is among the fi rst ever.
For Hara the fi lm was, in a way, a continuum to a love affair broken down, and the viewer certainly can sense that. The viewer becomes consumed in Hara’s and his ex-girlfriend life in disturbing but extremely unique ways. The last remnants of privacy are shook off when Hara fi lms Miyuki giving birth on her own.