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• Cinando
• Trailer, 1 photo(s)
• Lumiere
• Admissions in 1 European country

• Cannes 2017 (Debut)

Year of production : 2016

Director(s) : Arto HALONEN
Writer(s) : Arto HALONEN
Cast : Jouko HOKKANEN, Linus TUOMENVIRTA, Miro MÄKELÄ

Producer(s) : Arto HALONEN (Art Films Production LTD)

White rage is the story of Lauri, and through him the story of other victims of both school bullying and a separate childhood trauma: victims full of white rage, which may lead to school shootings and other extreme acts of violence. The film is also about our society: a society without sufficient understanding or desire to address the emergence of school violence.

Later on Lauri became an academic researcher and respected scientist specialized in human aggression and violence. Yet when he was growing up he experienced extreme bullying. At two points – as a teen and again as a university student – he began to develop serious fantasies about committing mass murder. The documentary goes through Lauri's life journey; how he became a carrier of white rage and how he survived this heavy burden by recognizing it and taking to action.

Years of therapy and his choice of a career in the academic world have helped Lauri to understand the phenomenon that took place inside him. He talks about black and white rage. Black rage is when people get angry and cannot control their behavior in the heat of the moment. White rage does not include a momentary impulse or excitement. Injustice is noted and the preparations for revenge begin, often slowly and carefully.

Lauri has studied profiles of the mass murders both in Finland and abroad. He noticed that many of them were motivated by and acted under the influence of white rage, with the mass destruction planned over a long period of time. Lauri believes that when school bullying is combined with a separate trauma experienced in childhood, this can create a vulnerability that will develop into white rage. For instance, when Lauri was 9, his father died.

Lauri thinks that if society wants to prevent future school shootings, we should direct our help to those who have experienced serious bullying or violence.

Lauri acts as a narrator in the film. The voice used is his own, and he himself is the one who opens the gate to his unique way of thinking. His life's turning points have been dramatized in the story, and combined with mass murders that happened in Finland and abroad.