Karelian Cowgirls

Mintu Mäntynen takes as her subject three women who, as teenagers, during the Finland’s Winter War - when the Soviet Red Army invaded the Karelia area of the country – were told to flee, driving their cattle into the brutal interior of the country.

Annikki, Inkeri and Hilkka are sprightly pensioners now but recall the events of that freezing cold winter quite clearly. One talks of the calves freezing as they left their mother’s bodies, another remembers returning back to her farmhouse after losing the cows. Their strength of character shines through.

Mäntynen has a good eye for composition and captures the evocative landscape of Finland, hinting at the arduous environment the women had to endure. They, too, through their testimony paint a vivid picture of a cold, hard winter, that has gone on to have echoes through their lives. Informative and intelligent.