Synopsis

Sisu is based on the true story of Tom Sukanen, a Finnish shipwright and Canadian immigrant who was institutionalized in 1943 after spending a decade building a steamship on his prairie homestead, 1200 miles inland. The triple tragedies of the dust storms, the Depression, and the loss of his family had driven this genius inventor, engineer and artist to embark on a dream, either divinely inspired or desperately mad, of sailing from the middle of the Canadian wheatlands home to Finland. Surreal imagery, animation and special effects enrich live action historical scenes, projecting Sukanen’s poetic passion onto the starkly beautiful Depression-era Canadian prairies.