the happiest country that nearly didn't exist

A feature-length documentary that asks a simple question: how does a country work this well?

I spent five years living in it and one year writing, filming, interviewing, producing and editing.

Together with Lesley Riddoch, we wandered through Finland - its schools, its forests, its history and its silences - trying to make sense of a place that consistently tops the world's happiness rankings, yet rarely shouts about it. 

The result is a film about quiet trust, extraordinary resilience, and what the rest of the world might learn from a country that almost wasn't here at all.

From icebreakers to homelessness policy, from the scars of war to the architecture of modern education, this is a love letter disguised as a documentary. It's an antidote to doom-scrolling and proof that some things, somewhere, are genuinely going right.

Subtitled in Finnish. Filmed by two Scots.

The film has sold out venues on tour and is now available to watch online.