The Home of Dark Butterflies
– Haunted by his traumatic past and cautious about the prospects of an uncertain future, a fourteen ye..
Haunted by his traumatic past and cautious about the prospects of an uncertain future, a fourteen year old boy named Juhani winds up in an isolated boys' home known as The Island. Juhani (Niilo Syvaoja) has been shuttled between foster homes and temporary families for the past six years, leaving any prospect of stability in his life a faded dream. When Juhani winds up in a remote shelter for troubled youth known as The Island, he has little idea of how ruthless superintendent Olavi Harjula (Tommi Korpela) can truly be.
11 Jan 2008
Finnish
Dome Karukoski
Dome Karukoski (collaborating writer), Leena Lander (novel), Marko Leino (screenplay)
Niilo Syväoja, Tommi Korpela, Kristiina Halttu, Kati Outinen
Juhani, 14 years old and tormented by a childhood trauma, has changed several foster parents from the age of eight. He is taken to an island, where there is a boys' home, run by a strict superintendent, Olavi Harjula. Besides the seven boys that dwell there, there is the superintendent, his wife, his two daughters and a woman for menial help. Juhani is gradually accepted by his peers and strikes a friendship with the eldest daughter. When Harjula is advised that funding will stop for his school due to his harsh methods, he decides to start a silkworm project for self-funding. All the boys agree to stay and help him, apart from Juhani, who expects to go back to his family that wants him back.
8 wins & 8 nominations.