Special Visit From one of the Risto Räppääjä movie stars - Lumi Kallio
Wednesday began like any other school day in Niittykumpu School – the yard quickly filled with cheerful students full of endless stories of this and that. The senior students however, the sixth graders from the Finnish class, had a look of anticipation as they entered the school doors. Rimbo Salomaa, the producer in Solar Films, would be visiting their Lisää Kielitaitoa lesson. What the students did not know yet was that Rimbo was bringing a surprise special guest along with him.
Lisää Kielitaitoa promotes and strengthens English language skills of students in the sixth grade Finnish class. The teachers have introduced interesting projects that engage and inspire the students, enhancing research, thinking and writing skills. This semester the students have been working on a project called ‘My Favorite Film’. In small groups of three or four students, they began by brainstorming films they have watched, which ones they have liked best and what they have particularly liked about the films. In groups, the students settled on a movie that all group members have watched and liked. Together they did descriptive research on what, where, when and how the movie was made. They also searched for information regarding the success or failure of the film, as well as ascertaining factors that made the movie a success or failure. The most favorite part of the research for the students was, of course, finding information about their favorite actors and actresses.
Today’s surprise guest was Lumi Kallio (Nelli Nuudelipää), one of the main actors in last year’s Risto Räppääjä, and the Wrong Vincent film. The movie is the latest of eight films, and the most exceptional since it premiered at the brink of the pandemic. The cheerful and friendly teenage girl was first met by a silence-struck grade six class that soon erupted into exhilarant energy and vigor, wheeling around her for selfies. Rimbo Salomaa gave a presentation on highlights of the making of Risto Räppääja, introducing the students into the process of selecting the ideal child actor amidst many great applicants.
Lumi participated actively by talking about her own personal experience during the pre-production, shooting of the movie and post-production with promo tour and premiere. This was a very interesting aspect. The students enjoyed listening and watching video clips of Risto Räppääjä and the Strong man and Risto Räppääjä and the wrong Vincent. Questions were naturally flowing, and Rimbo and Lumi answered them briskly. One of the students asked the length of making a movie, to which we were all surprised to learn that it could take years for a movie to finally be in the movie theatres. Risto Räppääjä films are the most popular children’s movies in Finland, and therefore the length of completing it, from the inception of the script to the premier, was a sound two years. A much shorter length of time compared to many others.
In sixth grade, students get plenty of opportunity to present project-work before an audience, which is usually their own class. Lumi Kallio’s visit was an inspiration - that no matter how big or small the project is, the students can make the most of the occasion by preparing well and giving the presentation the best they can.
As the sixth-grade students prepare to leave for their autumn holiday, there’s an air of expectancy at the coming presentations of their projects on ‘My Favorite Film’, after the holiday. A lot of effort and group discussions has gone into their research, and I personally can’t wait to be in the audience!
