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A Shot in the Factory (Laukaus tehtaalla), directed by Erkko Kivikoski in 1973, is one of the most radical films ever made in Finland. It tells the story of a wildcat strike initiated by the workers at a metal factory, who organise against the new management’s profit-oriented push to reduce the workforce. This confrontation between labour and capital, which is not supported by the union, results in a violent deadlock: a worker shooting the factory’s new manager.

Edited and written by Sezgin Boynik and Minna Henriksson, A Shot in the Factory: Workers into the Frame discusses the film in the context of Finnish post-war politics and analyses its formal innovations within the tradition of the experimental use of documentary material.

Expanding the scope of the labour struggles depicted in the film, the book engages with writer Marja-Leena Mikkola’s seminal 1971 reportage on the exploitative labour conditions of women workers in the textile industry.

The book is complemented by Mikkola’s writings and poems from the early 70s, as well as appendices on the history of class struggles in Finland and a poem by Maria Fusco.

A Shot in the Factory is published by Rab-Rab Press and is supported by The Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation. For more info check the Rab-Rab website.

A Shot in the Factory and other Rab-Rab books will be available to purchase at a reduced price during the event.

Thank you to Donner Productions Oy for permission to screen Laukaus tehtaalla.

Accessibility note: The entrance of Kirjan talo has three steps prior to reaching the elevator level.