Boxes to Latvia
In this half-hour documentary activists drive down the Via Baltica with full-packed vans to distribute clothing, school supplies, furniture, health items etc. in the Latvian country-side. Bikupan, an ngo consisting of retired citizens from the Raseborg region, run their aid operations more and more like an effective business. Last year they drove down 9 times with 15 vans, reaching out to over 10 villages, co-operating with local aid organisations who in turn distribute to hundreds of people.
Bikupan has no exterior funding, but runs its operations on the profits made from selling donated goods in their little shop in Ekenäs, a rural town in southern Finland. A lot of people contribute to their work, some sewing and knitting blankets for the elderly, others donating furniture or parcels of food near Christmas time. Bikupan has become a hub of activity connecting the many in the joy of being of service.
When you come to a certain age and start wondering what part of the body is going to be aching next, you might as well start thinking about something else, laughs Gita Lindholm, one of the founding members of Bikupan. Sometimes people wonder how we find the motivation to keep helping when you can’t help them all – but since I have children myself I know what it means if my child has a proper pair of winter boots and a warm jacket, so maybe helping that one child is important after all.
Directed by: Emma Fogelholm and Janna Thorström. Cinematographer: Miikka Pakarinen. Edit: Klaus Grabber. Pink Orbit Production, 2015.
First night at Tammisaari Film Festival (Finland) 23.1.2016
On YleFem 25.3.2016 at 20.00, 26.3 at 14.25, and one year at Yle Areena.