The Punk Syndrome, a documentary film about a Finnish punk band, gets awarded in Switzerland

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Pertti Kurikka’s Name Day) is a punk band that was formed in 2009 in a culture workshop arranged by Lyhty, a nonprofit organization. Lyhty provides housing and education services as well as workshops for adults with intellectual disabilities. The band members, Pertti, Kari, Toni and Sami, are mentally handicapped and they play their music with a lot of attitude and pride. The band has achieved a cult status in Finland, and now they are getting popular also abroad as they have toured in Germany, and will also take their punk attitude to Norway later this year.

Their songs are about the problems in society as well as about things that they face in their everyday life: unpleasant pedicures and the misery of living in a group home. The guys give piece of their mind to both politicians and people whose attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities need improvement.

The Punk Syndrome, directed by Jukka Kärkkäinen and J-P Passi, is a film which follows these professional musicians on their journey from obscurity to popularity, and about the essence of punk. The film premiers in May 2012, and has had festival screenings abroad, in Hot Docs festival in Toronto, Canada and in Visions du Réel Festival in Nyon, Switzerland, where it was awarded with the Special Prize Swiss Post for the most innovative Feature Film. The film has also been screened in several film festivals in Finland, and received Audience Award in Tampere Film Festival.

The film was reviewed recently in Variety magazine. Read the review here.

Mirka Pesonen / Fimic
2 May, 2012