Sami Kieksi recalls his tough childhood and teenage years at Yle.
Award-winning director Sami Kieksi has met men for his documentaries who have revealed that they considered suicide when they were only 10 years old.
The suicidal thoughts of childhood are no stranger to Kieks himself. He talks about his difficult background today in Flinkkilä & Kellomää, a journalist To Anne Flinkkiläto whom he tells about his inconsolation, his feeling of emptiness and the idea of whether he should exist at all.
One dark moment in particular has remained in Kieks’ mind. He was with his mother, who had moved to a new place, when the mother, who had mental health and alcohol problems, ran away. She left her younger half-sisters in the care of her firstborn.
In an interview, Sami Kieksi talks about his difficult background, which could also have led to a criminal path. ANNA JOUSILAHTI
Kieksi was still just a child himself when he had to be alone responsible for the babies for many days.
– It was such a moment for me that I wondered if there was any meaning in life. My own endurance was really at the limit, Kieksi recalls difficult events.
Anne Flinkkilä interviews Sami Kieks in a studio familiar to the man. As a young man, Kieksi learned how to use a camera at Yle, among other things. HARRI HINKKA, Yle
The family’s problems started when Kieksi was of kindergarten age. She was ashamed of her background and wanted to protect her mother, who also suffered from really suicidal thoughts. Kieksi hid everything. On the other hand, not a single outside adult intervened in the situation, neither in social services nor at school.
There were other problems at school. Kieks was cruelly bullied and humiliated for years. One day it clicked for him, and he gave back in equal measure. He grabbed a chair and used it to attack his bully. However, the bully fell on the coat rack in the school hallway, and there was blood everywhere.
Kieks was immediately concerned about what had happened to the other student.
– I thought that this cannot be done, and that what has happened to him. There was concern that I killed him.
Many of the topics in Sami Kieks’ documentaries are familiar to him. Jenni Gästgivar
The school friend survived, and Kieksi says he learned a lesson. The road to becoming an award-winning documentary director and family man was still not particularly easy even after what happened. Along the way, there were many bends and one ending up in a pipe.
Now Kieksi is drawing on his own experiences to give a voice to those left behind in society. He knows what it’s like – he’s been in the same situation himself.
Flinkkilä & Kellomäki today on TV1 at 17:10 & Areena. See all TV programs and broadcast times in Telku’s TV guide.