Winter-Swimmer Erkki (2018)

The documentary follows a 93-year-old Erkki Makkonen as he prepares for Winter Swimming World Championships that will take place in Siberia, Russia. Erkki has only visited Russia once before - in 1943. "Then we went armed with guns, now I am only armed with my swim trunks", Erkki summarizes the philosophy of his journey. The documentary follows Erkki's travel preparations in a sleepy little village of Savonranta. Erkki is a well-known sight at the river rapids located in the center of the village. He walks to the rapids daily with his walker in order to swim to keep himself fit to race. This eight-time world champion, who also currently holds the title, looks to the future with confidence: " Even though times now are hard in Finland, we will stand back up again and we will rise. I look forward to the future. Next, I could try mountaineering, ", Erkki ponders. This film is a story about sisu - Finnish concept maybe best translated as a stoic resoluteness in the face of adversity - and lust for life and holes in the ice. And a little bit about love too.