Happy Independence Day

Film synopsis

Happy Independence Day is a film about citizens of Helsinki celebrating the Independence Day of Finland on the 6 of December 2021. The film draws a portrait of the citizens of Helsinki during the Independence Day of Finland in 2021. The film follows different groups, like Antifa, “let’s close the borders” torch march, ultra right wing, anarchists and Helsinki against the nazis demonstration, as well as other citizens observing the events on the streets of Helsinki. Independence Day is the biggest police operation of the year in Finland. The kids following the events are commenting on the happenings with their own philosophies about Star Wars, religion and humanity in general. The film raises a question about the abstract concept of national identity, why it is important, and why it means such different things to different people. The questions about national identity seem to tear people living in Finland apart, and at the same time it seems that kids, the citizens of the future, don’t understand the concept of national identity in the same way as adults do.