Builders of the Welfare State

Icebreakers produced a 10-episode-long series of online videos for the website of the ET magazine.

JAA

Entitled Builders of the Welfare State, the series is based on interviews with Finnish politicians who were instrumental in the 1960s and 1970s in creating the Finnish welfare state. Their achievements include the comprehensive school system, universal day-care, the Primary Health Care Act as well as infrastructure such as roads and bridges. At the time, trade with Russia was lucrative, but there were also efforts to develop trade with the West.

The project involved influential people from left, centre and right of the political spectrum. The interviewees, in order of release date, are Pirkko Työläjärvi, Jaakko Itälä, Ele Alenius, Marjatta Väänänen, Seppo Lindblom, Raimo Ilaskivi, Anna-Liisa Hyvönen, Jouko Loikkanen, Jermu Laine and Jutta Zilliacus. The series was directed by Anna-Liisa Haavikko and edited and produced by Kirsi Mattila.