Our Animal Neighbors

Finland's gardens, parks, and rooftops are shared spaces, occupied not just by people but by a quiet, persistent animal world that most of us pass without noticing. Directed by Petri Merta, this observational documentary turns attention to the creatures that have chosen to live alongside us, some familiar presences in daylight, others active only after dark.

Some of these animals have been our neighbours for generations. Others are more recent arrivals, drawn closer to human settlements as warming temperatures shift their habitats and habits. What connects them is adaptability. Finding food, shelter, and safer conditions near human populations, many have settled permanently into this shared territory.

The film follows its subjects with patience and quiet curiosity, letting behaviour speak for itself rather than dramatising or editorialising. Narration guides the viewer through the rhythms of these animal lives without imposing sentiment.

Beneath the gentle surface, the film raises something worth sitting with: that the boundaries between the human world and the natural one are more porous than we tend to assume. As species continue to move in response to a changing climate, learning to see and appreciate what lives beside us may matter more than ever.