“Seeing violence leaves traces as if you were the target of violence” – Documentary director Iris Olsson stopped at a cruel fact

“The worst it wasn’t even violence directed at Me. It wasn’t the most hurtful of all. Yes, the most hurtful thing of all was definitely seeing it, from the side.”

This is what the interviewee, an adult man, says when recalling his childhood Life at the Ringside – in the mini-documentary.

The director sums it up by Iris Olsson The message of the THL campaign video of the Institute of Health and Welfare.

“Witnessing violence affects you psychologically just as much as being the target of violence yourself,” says Olsson.

At that the fact stopped when Olsson read it from a study on intimate partner violence.

About ten minutes Life at the Ringside can be viewed on Youtube and at lifeattheringside.com.

Adults now in the documentary Art, Ismo, Joni, Mirkku and an anonymous woman tell their childhood memories. They all grew up in broken homes and had to witness violence.

The marks are lifelong. Many of those who witnessed violence as children suffer years and decades later from addictions, mental health disorders, and psychosomatic and physical illnesses.

“Those interviewed for the documentary are still afraid of loud noises, sudden movements and drunks at parties. They cannot watch the violence in movies. Several of them have struggled with severe depression and exhaustion and found it difficult to trust another person in a close relationship,” says Olsson.

Document is filmed on the sidelines of a boxing ring. In fact, according to THL, domestic violence is “the most watched martial art in the world, with more than 800 million followers every year”.

of Unicef by 275 million children witness domestic violence every year. When there is an abuser and a victim in addition to them, we get to 800 million people who are damaged by violence every year.

THL’s campaign is timed before Christmas, as domestic violence usually increases during the holidays.

With the help of the campaign, THL reminds that the free helpline and chat service Nollalinja advises and offers support throughout Christmas, at all times of the day. You can apply to a shelter if you experience intimate partner violence or the threat of it.

This year, THL is intensifying its message about the consequences of domestic violence with a short film by an award-winning director.

Document according to Iris Olsson, it doesn’t show victims, but people who have taken a step forward from being a victim.

“All the interviewees dared to feel anger about what has happened to them.”

Each case has its own characteristics, although the documentary proves one story: there are no winners in the battles fought at home. Spectators in the “ringside seats” also suffer.

The child may have to experience parental pressure: Let what happens at home stay at home. Otherwise, the child may be separated from his parents. This is precisely what many children are afraid of. Even if there is abuse at home and it’s otherwise restless.

To the documentary people were searched for on social media and through announcements. According to Olsson, they were also thoroughly interviewed beforehand. We wanted to make sure of everyone’s state of mind and motivation, that they themselves know for sure what they are getting into.

“Everyone’s story was reviewed. The priority was to create a confident space for the interviewees during the process.”

When it comes to building trust, Olsson believes in openness. Olsson explains what is done at any point in the filming, expresses wishes and asks the main characters if they feel that everything proposed is possible.

“There is no hidden agenda or manipulation, and in my opinion there is no need for such in the making of the documentary. Many things become surprisingly easy when, as a director, you directly express what you want and why, and have created a conversational atmosphere from the start.”

The documentary does not go through the experiences of the interviewees in detail, but focuses on what kind of traces the violence that happened decades ago has left on those who witnessed it.

“The main thing was not the events, but the person today.”

Iris Olsson (b. 1981) is a versatile film professional: director, self-filming documentarian when necessary, screenwriter, dramaturg and film industry consultant. He has also worked as the artistic director of the Docpoint festival.

Film director Claes Olsson the daughter says that the atmosphere at home was suitable for watching movies. The recession years of the early 1990s were spent watching movies in the basement of a detached house in Helsinki.

“I lived next to a video rental shop. I watched everything except horror and porn – probably already as a child a lot of things that I shouldn’t have watched. I went to the rental company every day to ask if there was anything new.”

At the age of 18, Olsson had already seen thousands of feature films when he realized that he was watching a documentary for the first time. The Yle TV channel was showing Jaakko Ilkka Virtanen the document The measure of a man.

At the turn of the millennium, we lived in the time of the market breakthrough of the erectile drug Viagra, and Virtanen’s documentary, through its characters, took part in the potency debate of that time. Olsson watched, cried and was surprised to identify with the middle-aged men.

“I identified with their shame, pain and sadness and wondered what power a documentary film can have.”

Olsson strives to charge a similar power to his own films. “I want to tell about things that are happening in the world, but which are left aside, ignored.”

Olsson has previously made documentaries about difficult subjects. For example Summer child told about a Russian orphanage child’s summer in Finland and the problems of charity.

The burden of my heart on the other hand, showed the traces of the Rwandan genocide and took viewers to witness how homeless children fought off their bad feelings by sniffing glue.

Along with trauma, childhood has also been one of the main themes of Olsson’s works.

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“It was hard to accept that the experiences during filmmaking felt harsh to me.”

Olsson works a lot through himself to find his own grip on his subjects. For this project too, he returned to his own childhood.

Olsson has not witnessed violence or the threat of violence in his home, but he remembered observing “a somehow threatening world” from the child’s perspective. It caused feelings of confusion and outsideness that were felt in the body.

He was also able to relate to the traumatization of indirect violence from a professional perspective. After the film he shot in Rwanda, Olsson had a panic attack after returning to Finland, which was later explained as a symptom of trauma. On the recommendation of a colleague, Olsson went to see a psychologist, who after long discussions convinced Olsson to allow his own feelings.

“It was hard to accept that the experiences during the filmmaking felt harsh to me, when I wasn’t a victim myself, and when what I witnessed or heard was nothing compared to the experiences of the people I filmed.”

After the experience, Olsson learned healthier ways of working with difficult topics and ways to protect one’s own mind.

Of everything despite this, Iris Olsson sees a lot of beauty and opportunities in the world. Through his own work, he has also repeatedly proven the power of sharing painful experiences.

“It acts as a mirror and repeats itself to the viewers when the people in the film are shown as seen with their traumas. Hopefully it will help people who have personal or indirect contact with similar experiences.”

Zero line the phone number is 080 005 005. You can also chat with a professional in violence work in Nollalinja’s chat service.

Watch the Life at the Ringside documentary here: