A voice from the past: Letters from Karelia

Letters from Karelia is an intimate documentary that explores grand themes ranging from idealism to the injustices of war. At its heart is a series of unsent letters written by Aate Pitkanen, a Finnish-Canadian.

	Cinematographer Richard Stringer, CSC, on location in Ontario. PHOTO: RICHARD STRINGER.

Pitkanen was one of thousands of Finns who left their homes in Ontario, Canada, and traveled to Karelia, a region in Northern Russia, with the dream of establishing a worker’s paradise. The dream faded, and many were killed or sent to work camps by Stalin. Some survivors were drafted to spy on their Finnish compatriots.

Pitkanen was eventually executed for espionage, but not before he penned the farewell letters to his relatives in Canada. He handed the letters to the jail warden. Almost 60 years later they were discovered by the warden’s son and sent to Canada, where Pitkanen’s 90-year-old sister learned that she had a nephew named Alfred, who was 61 years old and living in Moscow.

Director/editor Kelly Saxberg and cinematographer Richard Stringer, CSC, convinced the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada that the story required images captured on film. Saxberg says that the archival superiority of film also factored into her decision. They calculated budgets and post-production strategies that worked within normal NFB parameters.