Att sminka en gris

The story of a middle-aged accountant, a single mother, caused a sensation in Finland after it came to light that she got addicted to gambling and lost over 800,000 euros she’d stolen from her customers. Johan Karrento uses this story to raise awareness about gambling addiction in Finland. The gambling company that has a monopoly licence on the Aland Islands, where the film’s director and his heroine live, had just 957 euros in deposits in 2007. In May 2011 alone, it was already over 152,000 euros. The number is going up. The most addictive form of gambling is slot machines, called the crack cocaine of gambling. The oldest age groups gamble the most, as well as unemployed people, chronically ill people, and people with low income. Society profits from the income of this segment of the economy. Do we want to live in a system driven by gambling addiction and stolen money? (Warsaw Film Festival)