Ilveskuiskaaja - Lynx Man

Following divorce and a serious accident Hannu lives, alone and despondent, on his farm near Köyhäjärvi lake in the West of Finland. An environment rich in forests, fields and swamps that is home to all kinds of wildlife – including the Eurasian lynx, a wildcat until recently almost extinct. When Hannu finds a dead lynx by the side of the road, it is like meeting an old friend: he realizes that the lynx who lived in the area during his childhood have returned. He picks up the animal and carries it home.

Filled with renewed vigour and lust for life, Hannu sets up trail cameras all over his land. Soon, 23 cameras are recording everything from moose to mice: wolves, deer, birds, otters, foxes, dogs – and lynx. Hannu starts to get to know the lynx personally, learning their habits and habitats, relationships and individual characteristics. He gives them names and leaves messages for them. He even saves the life of one wily female and her cubs – twice.

The spirit of the lynx permeates deeper and deeper into Hannu’s world as he becomes increasingly fascinated by theirs. He sees animal shapes in the steam in his sauna. He goes out into the woods at night, watching and waiting. Gradually, he becomes aware that the lynx are watching him back. Hannu starts adopting a lynx persona of his own, and embarks upon a journey towards a meeting as equals between the human and the more-than-human.

Hannu’s developing relationship with the lynx is intercut and underscored by the voice of a female lynx, giving consolation and natural wisdom in a voiceover that draws on ancient Finnish folklore.

But even as Hannu and the lynx families thrive and multiply, threats from both the natural and the human worlds are never far away. Disease strikes one of Hannu’s favourite alpha males, and human activities such as clearcutting, construction, farming and hunting continue to pose an ever-present, deadly danger.

Ultimately, Lynx Man is an exploration of a symbiotic inter-species relationship that prompts us to ask ourselves, where do we draw the line between man and animal? And then, between man and nature?

Before the film: Scenic View (Maija Blåfield, Finland 2023, 15 min).
Finland has the most forest in Europe, but primeval forest has become so rare that it almost feels fictional. Is it now the enchanted forest? And is a commercial forest real? As nature documentaries are staged, are they fiction? Scenic View is a nature film about how we look at a forest landscape, but also about how we look at the reality.

Running time: 80 min + short film 15 min
Age limit: Lynx Man: All ages admitted | Scenic View: K7
Language: Finnish
Subtitles: English
Director: Juha Suonpää
Script: Juha Suonpää, Hanna Kaihlanen
Cinematography: Alexander Markus Lembke, Juha Suonpää
Sound: Tanel Kadalipp
Editing: Tuuli Kuittinen F.C.E., Hanna Kaihlanen (opening and closing sequences)
Music: Puuluup, Kimmo Helén, Tanel Kadalipp
Producer: Pasi Hakkio, Niina Virtanen
Co-Producer: Liis Nimik

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