Presidential Campaign Film to Premiere Amid Dispute

Amid furore, a documentary film on the Finnish presidential campaign will run in cinema festival hallsthis week Thursday, for the first time after all.

Producer Miia Haavisto said the film titled: 'The Campaign - Making of a President' will be relayed to the public as first ever recorded events from an election nerve centre capturing behind -the- scenes of 2012 presidential race.

The film features the then candidate, Sauli Niinistö - now the current Finnish President and a conservative from the National Coalition Party (NCP). In the film, it is thought that candidate would easily have a ride in the park along the campaign trajectory but it emerges that contestants had an equal strengh to alter that line of thought.

The 'President-to-be' is sure to clinch the seat as his campaign team. However, a candidate (not mentioned) raises the stake in the race that leaves campaign team to re-think winning strategy against a running timeline. And it at this point that, Haavisto says, teamwork was essential element at the time.

"It is hard work and the boss (read as Presidential candidate) is not an easy one by any standard. Many viewers can identify to the team work aspect of this film working with a strict dead line."

The producer explained to Broadway Interviews that the goal of the feature-length film is set out to create a platform for accessibility to both passionate and non-passionate audience in local politics. "We wanted the film to be accessible both to people who do not actively follow domestic politics and to those who do it passionately," Haavisto said.

However, the film has raised a storm amongst party bigwigs with the secretary Taru Tujunen contesting it over the scenes appearing in the film. "This is a contractual dispute. It's a question of principle: An agreement was made, and agreements should be respected," Tujunen was quoted as saying.

Apparently film director Tuukka Temonen is a member of the Coalition Party to which the film is about. He has vehemently maintained that 'contractual terms had been fully met' in the production of the film.

Acknowledging that President Niinistö has been worried over raw footage in the feature documentary, producer Haavisto insists the precise concerns had been dealt with and those standard procedures were duly met.

The 'Making of a President' has been the centre of hot debate over past few weeks with Helsinki Film Ltd insisting the content is above board and will be shown on the countrywide March 14th.

According to producer, the cinema release starts on March 14th despite the counter claims of entire deletion of the content in dispute. "I am glad that it is so soon so people can see the film themselves and make their own conclusion about this all," Haavisto concludes.

Photo Credit: Tuukka Temonen