Based on the books by Marko Erola, “Vilpitön mieli” (Tammi 2017) and “Mieletön vilppi” (Tammi 2020), which tell the stories of Jouni Ranta and Veli Seppä, revealing the astonishing scale of art forgery in Finland.
“Finland has been sold full of forged art, for decades, with tens of millions”
– Jouni Ranta
MAIN CHARACTERS
Jouni Ranta (b. 1950) traded paintings for over 30 years in galleries operating in Turku and Helsinki, among others. Ranta has served two prison sentences in the 2000s for distributing forgeries.
Veli Seppä (b. 1947, d. 2022) was a welder and the most skillful and prolific forger in Finnish art history. From the 1980s onwards, Seppä produced thousands of forgeries of works by well-known artists before receiving a suspended sentence in 2017.
In the series, Jouni Ranta reveals what kind of a forger’s paradise Finland was for them. The lax attitude of art museums and auctions towards forgeries created an opportunity that made the thief. And there were plenty of thieves, especially in the turbocharged consumption and investment mania of the 80s casino economy.
Ranta, who spent years in prison, was released last year and is now ready to tell everything that happened during those decades since the 1970s – how Finland was sold with forged art – for the first time on camera.
“When it was dry enough, I made a quality name change to it and put A. Edelfelt on it”
– Veli Seppä
SYNOPSIS
Bona Fide true crime documentary series tells the improbable story of Jouni Ranta and Veli Seppä, a card cheat turned art dealer and a welder with a God-given gift for painting.
With Veli’s talent and Jouni’s knack for selling the two begin unloading forgeries to the booming art markets. – a venture that lasts for three decades. Veli’s forgeries of Finnish masterpieces are so good that even the best experts of art museums and galleries are not able to call them out.
Tens of forgeries turn into hundreds and eventually thousands, and as money starts pouring in, the lives of our heroes turn into a frenzy of abundant cash, loose women, racing horses, fast cars, and endless partying. Soon, easy money attracts a cast of shady characters and hardcore criminals. As the noose tightens, Jouni and Veli find themselves carrying guns and being questioned by the police again and again, facing two grim options, incarceration, or death.
As the surprisingly long history and unimaginable scope of art forgery in Finland is revealed to the public, art dealers are being sentenced by the dozen. Some end up taking their own life. Hundreds of forgeries are pulled from the market, but thousands probably remain, and will remain as their owners still believe in their authenticity or at least are not willing to take the risk of having them appraised.
It is bona fide, acting in good faith, that makes the art market tick.
Press
You can get a Press Kit and high-quality images by contacting: info@kameron.fi
Production
Production Company
kameron oy
Script & Direction:
Terjo aaltonen
Producer:
Jari Lähteinen
Executive Producer:
Juho Harjula
partners
