Sisu Documentary is an emotional 5-year voyage for filmmaker Marko Albrecht.

After our twins were born in 2011 I immediately knew I needed to tell them my life story so they knew who they were and came from. I wanted them to meet my late mother Paivi, see our childhood, my grandparents, my life in Chicago and Finnish summers.  Most importantly I wanted them to know how the Finnish mindset sisu shaped my life. 

My family has been documenting our lives on photo, film  and video since the early 1900s so I had an epic amount of content to work with. In late 2011 I started organizing boxes of old VHS, 8mm, photos.  I wanted to make a simple, fun, loving memorial highlight reel and be done in 1 month.

But life took an unexpected turn. On January 1st 2012 my mother's surviving brother Heikki was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and told he had no more than 6 months to live. My Family and I were shocked and devastated.  

I traveled from NJ to Finland 10 times from 2012-2015 documenting Heikkis fight against cancer, our family's life, and capturing intimate, tragic, joyful moments - including the birth of my cousins son,  my uncle Heikkis marriage, and my children's first summer visits to Finland.  Over those trips I also interviewed my family about their thoughts on SISU, life, death, FInland, and our connection to nature through our ancestral land and summer cottage.

This documentary is 100% not for profit. All proceeds have been given to youth and Families going through tragedy and still facing that moment in life with SISU.  
SISU Filmmaker Marko Albrecht