In the early 1920s, the Republic of Finland was not much more than a white splotch on the map. The foreign ministry wanted to change all that and commissioned film pioneer Erkki Karu to capture his homeland on celluloid. The result is panoramic cinema that surveys the pride of the young nation in six acts – the flourishing wood trade, elegant Helsinki, the country’s sports achievements, thriving agriculture, the military, and the splendid natural world. When the film premiered at a 1922 conference in Genoa, the audience was bowled over, and it went on to be seen by more than eight million people. In honour of the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence, the film, which was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1959, has been reconstructed. The images will be accompanied by music composed specifically for this occasion by Franz Danksagmüller, professor at the Lübeck Academy of Music.