Joonas Rutanen

Director

I am writing the script for the feature film Rakastan Annaa (”I love Anna”). The film is a story about the very last moments of childhood right before entering the teen years; it is about a group of socially excluded kids who learn about life at a life management camp for Internet addicts.

The theme of the fictional film is approached through methods typical of documentaries and so, field research is essential to the scriptwriting process. The intention is to learn about the treatment of the harmful effects in children and youths of overexposure to the Internet and digital gaming. Research was conducted primarily at a pediatric neuropsychiatric unit.

The story unfolds through the protagonist Roni (13). Roni is an Internet and game addicted pre-teen who switches from private therapy to group counselling. Roni participates in a life management camp for children where kids who have become alienated from everyday life learn its basics. At the camp, Roni becomes friends withAnna (14) who is a year older than him. Anna and Roni develop a close friendship, akin to first love, defined by a mutual search to find their place in the world.