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Box-office hit “100 Litres of Gold” – last year’s Finnish Oscar submission – is getting a sequel, downing additional “200 Litres of Gold” as the boozy saga about Finnish beer sahti continues.
“In the first one, the sisters
were making sahti for their sister’s wedding. Now, they are making it for the Finnish Sahti Championship. To win, they need to tolerate each other and overcome rival sahti makers – and their father,” says director Teemu Nikki.
“Needless to say, things don’t go too smoothly, resulting in physical and mental damage.”
Obviously, no one’s going to stay sober for long. But the comedy also stems from other sources, and the relationships between the sisters, and their father, are “even more complex than before,” says Nikki.
There’s also a new nemesis in town: the sahti makers from another village.
“They are two ladies who are as crazy as our sisters. There’s a lot of trash-talking and arm-wrestling.”
Elina Knihtilä and Pijo Lonka return as Pirkko and Taina.
“They’re close, for sure. But how well they’re able to take on life’s challenges, both together and alone, is part of the story’s theme,” notes Lonka.
“Actors have to find a way to love the characters they play, and these women were easy to love. They’re human. They’re not one-dimensional; they’re vulnerable, flawed and sometimes childlike. But with all their imperfections, you can relate to them and grow close to them.”
It was liberating to get a role like that, she says.
“It doesn’t happen very often for women. It’s great to show such a wide spectrum of emotions without holding back, and the person to thank for that is Teemu.”
“100 Litres of Gold” has already made waves abroad, with Dennis Lehane working on a U.S. remake.
Nikki and producer Jani Pösö are no beginners – with their production company It’s Alive Films, they have already created the likes of “The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,” awarded in Venice, or their first Oscar submission “Euthanizer.” They’re also behind Naima Mohamud’s “Halima.”
However, no other film has come close to the box-office results of “100 Litres of Gold,” the most-watched local film in 2025.
“It still feels a bit strange that it did so well. It’s like we kept on hitting our heads against a wall until it finally collapsed,” laughs Pösö.
“In a way, I think we’ve become better filmmakers. Everything just clicked, from marketing and distribution to acting. Elina has been with us since the very first short we made, she has been fantastic in every role, and we finally got to work with Pirjo.”
They are happy to see this unlikely franchise grow.
“We are not sequel guys. But Teemu said: ‘I’m thinking of this as ‘The Godfather,’ and ‘The Godfather Part II’ was better than the first one,’” jokes Pösö.
“It’s a little bit darker, a little bit funnier and a little bit bigger. We find out that one of the sisters is not doing great; her liver has basically exploded. As in all our films, things get pretty serious in the end, even though it’s fun. It’s also totally independent, so you can watch it without having seen the first one. But the second one will make you want to watch the first one, and vice versa,” he says.
“With all franchises, there comes a moment when you need to stop. But a third one is certainly possible.”
