Wolfman
( Hukkamies )

Juha Suonpaa
2013 - 75 min - XDCAM - Couleur

"Wolfman" is a film about a man who has taught himself the language and ways of wolves, and witnessed their fates. The film is based on his video diaries collected over the course of 13 years. It is a story about the contradictory relationship between people and an endangered animal.
Director Juha Suonpää (born in Helsinki 1963) has always been interested in the theme of nature and has made many photography and documentary projects concerning the subject. In 1998 he bought a videocamera to wildlife expert Seppo Ronkainen, with aim to collect material on wolves and Seppo’s work.
In the late 90’s Seppo was hired to a position where he was to develop and carry out a way to catch wolves alive without hurting them in the process. During the years Seppo took the camera everywhere and was able to shoot the everyday life of the wolves and confrontations between humans and wild animals. The unique material shows how Seppo became expert on subject and one of the wolves, the Wolfman.
Twelve years later director Juha decided to realize the story of man and wolves, and started to work on the film based on the material. The film consists of present day material and excerpts of Seppo’s video diaries.