Tampere Film Festival 2012: National Competition

Ville Suhonen: Jäämarssi – Suomen matkaopas 1941–42 / Frozen Hell – Prisoners of War in Finland 1941–42 (FI 2011).

This year's edition of Tampere Film Festival, the oldest film festival in Finland, starts tomorrow. The complete official name is Tampere 42nd International Short Film Festival. Last year I focused on the national competition and was so happy with what I saw that I plan to follow the same strategy again. I copy below the official programme notes and will add my remarks having watched the films.

National Competition 1
JÄÄMARSSI – SUOMEN MATKAOPAS 1941–42
FROZEN HELL – PRISONERS OF WAR IN FINLAND 1941–42
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 85 min | Blu-ray | col., b&w
Director: Ville Suhonen
Script: Ville Suhonen
Cinematography: Pekka Uotila
Sound: Kirka Sainio
Editing: Tuuli Kuittinen
Music: Ville Suhonen
Production: Illume oy / Venla Hellstedt
There were tens of thousands Soviet Red Army prisoners who were captured by Finnish forces during the Second World War. One third of the prisoners died in the POW camps. Most of the archives were destroyed and most of war crimes were never revealed. - AA: A powerful account of Russian prisoners in Finland during WWII with information and footage published for the first time. There is also a larger theme about the history of white Finland from 1918 until 1946 with special focus on Lennart Oesch, Juuso Walden, Eljas Erkko, Petter Forsström, Eino Suolahti, and Eero Nero. Archives were systematically destroyed, but Suhonen has done his best to reconstruct his account from the available documents. There are also some dramatizations including the march on the ice, itself, mentioned in the Finnish title of the movie.

National Competition 2
TAISTELU TURUSTA / BATTLE FOR THE CITY
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 76 min | DCP | col., b&w
Director: Jouko Aaltonen
Script: Jouko Aaltonen, Rauno Lahtinen, Olli Vesala
Cinematography: Pekka Aine
Sound: Martti Turunen
Editing: Tuula Mehtonen
Music: Markku Kopisto
Production: Illume oy / Jouko Aaltonen
Battle for the City is a documentary film about the change in cityscape. It deals with corruption and malpractice that has happened in the past. It also follows the present-day activists and squatters. To whom does the built space belong to? - AA: I have already written about this distinguished documentary last year when it was theatrically released.

National Competition 3
SK8 OR DIE
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 45 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Janne Tanskanen
Script: Janne Tanskanen
Animation: Janne Tanskanen
Cinematography: Janne Tanskanen
Sound: Janne Tanskanen
Editing: Janne Tanskanen
Music: Janne Tanskanen
Production: Pohjois-Karjalan Ammattikorkeakoulu
Sk8 or Die is a story about a group of skateboarders in Joensuu, Finland in the 1990's. The aggressive use of suburban environment, DIY-mentality, music, arts and anti-racism were the aspects that defined this group. - AA: A funny, rough, and rocking account of a special skateboarding scene with varying sets of imagery and a before-after dramaturgy. Talkative and personality-focused.

BURDEN OF MY HEART
Finland, Rwanda | Suomi, Ruanda 2011
Documentary | 45 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Iris Olsson, Yves Niyongabo
Script: Iris Olsson, Yves Niyongabo
Cinematography: Iris Olsson
Sound: Toni Teivaala, Kimmo Vänttinen
Editing: Oskari Korenius, Iris Olsson
Music: Toni Teivaala
Production: Nordic Film Pool Ltd / Claes Olsson
Burden of My Heart is a documentary film about life in Rwanda today, 16 years after the genocide. Everyone who survived have found a way to from one day to another, carrying the burden of living. - AA: A wise and shocking account with first-person testimonies and a full view of many aspects of society, including the church, the school, song festivals - and bone-identifying centers. The cinematography stresses the beauty of the country where the horror took place.

National Competition 4
CANNED DREAMS
Finland, Denmark | Suomi, Tanska 2011
Documentary | 78 min | DCP | col.
Director: Katja Gauriloff
Script: Katja Gauriloff, Joonas Berghäll, Jarkko T. Laine
Cinematography: Heikki Färm, Tuomo Hutri
Sound: Peter Albrechtsen
Editing: Timo Peltola
Music: Karsten Fundal
Production: Oktober Oy / Joonas Berghäll
A film about workers and their dreams on the journey of a canned food product. The film follows one can on its unbelievable 35,000 kilometer journey from the ore mines of Brazil, through several countries, ending up on a shelf in a Finnish grocery store. - AA: This top documentary I have discussed in January when it was theatrically released.

National Competition 5
KOVASIKAJUTTU / THE PUNK SYNDROME
Finland | Suomi 2012
Documentary | 86 min | DCP | col.
Director: Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi
Script: Jukka Kärkkäinen, Sami Jahnukainen, J-P Passi
Cinematography: J-P Passi
Sound: Antti Haikkonen
Editing: Riitta Poikselkä
Production: Mouka Filmi Oy / Sami Jahnukainen
Four disabled guys form the World's last punk-rock band. They might not conquer the World, but they will achieve something more important – and they will certainly make a fuss. - AA: An impressive and incredible documentary on the punk rock band of the disabled. There are the usual features of a rockumentary (training, tour life, giving a concert, visiting the Reeperbahn, even attending to the Independence Day celebration of the President of the Republic), but everything is given a new, completely different perspective.

National Competition 6
KERJÄLÄISELOKUVA / HELPING MIHAELA
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 96 min | DigiBeta | col.
Director: Hanna Maylett
Script: Hanna Maylett
Cinematography: Jyri Hakala, Hanna Maylett
Sound: Janne Laine
Editing: Tuula Mehtonen
Music: Sonja Salmenkallio
Production: Avanton Productions Oy / Sonja Lindén
A beggar in a praying position raises a lot of strong emotions: guilt, rage, sympathy, frustration. The majority of people walk by, but there is always someone who wants to help. - AA: The director Hanna Maylett exposes herself in trying to get deeper into the question of Romany beggars. There had been no beggar question in Finland for many decades until Romania became a member of the EU and Romany beggars started to appear regularly, partly voluntarily, partly transported by organized crime.

National Competition 7
SOUNDBREAKER
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 86 min | DCP | col., b&w
Director: Kimmo Koskela
Script: Kimmo Koskela
Cinematography: Kimmo Koskela
Sound: Heikki Savolainen
Editing: Kimmo Koskela, Jani Jahlstedt, Akke Eklund
Music: Kimmo Pohjonen
Production: Koskela Art & Media House / Kimmo Koskela, Klaus Heydemann
In the chilling, opening sequence of Soundbreaker – documentary feature on Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen – the bellows-wielding artist is first seen skating across a frozen lake, and then dropping through it! - AA: A visually ambitious and special music documentary on the accordion artist Kimmo Pohjonen. The ensembles on display include the Kronos Quartet, Earth Machine Music, Accordion Wrestling, K Cube, Kimmo Pohjonen Kluster, and KTU. The locations include Oulujärvi, Tanzania, Antwerpen, Noux, and Helsinki. - Kimmo Pohjonen's mentor Heikki Laitinen makes an appearance, and central is the visit to Tanzania where Kimmo Pohjonen connected deeply with the musician Hukwe Zawose. - Visually bold and stylish, a movie of permanent value.

National Competition 8
* ERÄÄNLAINEN RAKKAUSTARINA / MY LITTLE WINDOW
Finland | Suomi 2011
Fiction | 17 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Lauri-Matti Parppei
Script: Lauri-Matti Parppei
Cinematography: Mikko Parttimaa
Sound: Joel Kinnunen, Lauri-Matti Parppei
Editing: Dimitri Okulov
Music: Lauri-Matti Parppei
Production: Kaakao Filmi / Marja Pihlaja, Jenny Priiki, Anna Alkiomaa
A girl meets a boy. - AA: Story of a modern relationship between students. Original with interesting performances by Kaisa-Leena Koskenkorva and Samu Soini.

POLIISI SELVITTÄÄ / THE INVESTIGATION
Finland | Suomi 2011
Fiction | 8 min | DVD | col.
Director: Aleksi Salmenperä
Script: Pekko Pesonen
Cinematography: Heikki Färm
Sound: Tuomas Klaavo
Editing: Jussi Rautaniemi
Production: Helsinki-filmi Oy / Aleksi Bardy
A few years ago 16 year old girl claimed that two men kidnapped her and made her sit in the icecold stream for an hour. Policemen doubted the story and desided to reconstruct the situation again. This is the story of policemen in the icecold stream. - AA: A comedy where top actors interpret the story that was well-known in Finnish tabloids. The precise account of police procedure turns comic.

Ö
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 13 min | DCP | col.
Director: Kari Juusonen
Script: Kari Juusonen, Leo Viirret
Animation: Kari Juusonen
Cinematography: Kari Juusonen
Sound: Kirka Sainio
Editing: Kimmo Kohtamäki
Music: Maka Lahtinen
Production: Vanilla Production Oy / Juha Vanhanen
Innocent diver finds his paradise – an islet in the middle of endless sea. When guarding his kingdom he turns into ruthless tyrant. - AA: Digital animation, professional look, allegorical aspects about power and domination.

A SHORT FILM ABOUT DYING / LYHYTELOKUVA KUOLEMISESTA
Finland | Suomi 2011
Fiction | 6 min | DVD | col.
Director: Dimitri Okulov
Cinematography: Mikko Parttimaa
Music: Devin Townsend
Production: Dimitri Okulov
A short film about dying. - AA: Parallel images of several characters including an old woman on her deathbed, a sword-swallower spitting blood, etc. A movie of associations and no explanations

PLANET OF SEXES
Finland | Suomi 2012
Experimental | 11 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Anssi Kasitonni
Script: Anssi Kasitonni
Cinematography: Anssi Kasitonni, Ville Pirinen
Sound: Anssi Kasitonni
Editing: Anssi Kasitonni
Music: Anssi Kasitonni
Production: Anssi Kasitonni
An unexpected love awaits a lonely US Air Force pilot on the planet of female warriors, castration robots and lizard creatures. The action switches from the blackness of space to the surface of the desert planet. - AA: Experimental, parodistic science fiction with do-it-yourself effects, animation, and a musical number.

PIIRONGIN PIILOISSA / CHEST OF DRAWERS
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 8 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Sanni Lahtinen
Script: Sanni Lahtinen
Animation: Sanni Lahtinen
Cinematography: Sanni Lahtinen
Sound: Lucas Pedersen
Editing: Sanni Lahtinen
Music: Anita Lahtinen
Production: Turku AMK / Eija Saarinen
What is there for a chest to do when a little mischievous guest messes up her drawers? - AA: object animation with surprising associations about real materials in surrealistic circumstances.

* MATKUSTAJA / PASSENGER
Finland | Suomi 2012
Documentary | 29 min | DigiBeta | col., b&w
Director: Pia Andell
Script: Pia Andell
Animation: Jan Andersson
Cinematography: Pekka Uotila
Sound: Kirsi Korhonen
Editing: Antony Bentley
Music: Janne Laine, Timo Hietala
Production: Of Course My Films / Pia Andell
A young girl meets an old man in a tram in Helsinki, Finland. He has a story to tell. Of his childhood and youth in Lodz and in Auschwitz. And then she has a story to tell. - AA: The old man is Mayer Franck, an actual Auschwitz survivor with a number tattooed in his wrist. The movie is a first hand testimony to a child of today. In 1940, Mayer was 11, of the same age as the girl (Maissi Heikkilä) is now. He was taken to a fur factory. His father starved to death. There were 250.000 people in the ghetto. Mayer broke a window and escaped into a sewer pipe. When he returned home, there was nothing left, and nobody ever returned. Follows a story of hiding, getting caught, and getting deported via train. "Here everybody goes to heaven". The place was called Auschwitz. Arbeitslager, 1944. Next to the train children were lying and crying. Mayer was ordered to go to the right side. In the evening, there was the shower and physical inspection. "You're so thin." New striped clothes were given. Taken to the barracks, "hinlegen", sleeping on the floor, work every day. Every day people were picked and taken away. Mayer used to pinch his cheeks to make himself look healthier, to stand on his toes to look taller. One day he was selected. A German company had bought the boys to work for them. They were referred to by their numbers only. Mayer's hands were swollen and infected. A doctor saved his life by pre-warning him of an inspection. He taken to Auschwitz, and when the Russians were coming, they were transported again, and at night he managed to hide deep in the hay and find a shelter with old people at a farmhouse. When the war was over Mayer returned to Lodz, but there was nobody left. Back at the fur factory, his classmate's mother's brother from Helsinki came to look for his relatives and took Mayer, then 18, to Finland.

National Competition 9
KUHINA / SWARMING
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 8 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Joni Männistö
Script: Joni Männistö
Animation: Joni Männistö
Sound: Lucas Pedersen
Editing: Joni Männistö
Music: The World Mänkeri Orchestra
Production: Turku AMK / Eija Saarinen
A child discovers life inside a dead bird and starts to play with it. - AA: Priit Pärn style animation. Theme: infant brutality. Horror turn: infant devoured by insects, birds of prey hovering on the sky

PETI / BED
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 10 min | DVD | col.
Director: Mikko Aliranta
Script: Mikko Aliranta
Cinematography: Tanja Heikkilä
Sound: Kai Hall
Editing: Antero Suurnäkki
Production: Metropolia AMK / Taina Tervo
A short documentary following the everyday of three people at a service centre in Helsinki: Marjut the cleaner and Enska and Ari the homeless. - AA: An inside story of the homeless at the Hietaniemi center for the homeless, with voiceover subjective commentary in the beginning, but mostly recording facts. There are ca 3000 homeless in Helsinki.

MANKELI / THE MANGEL
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 11 min | DCP | col.
Director: Jan Andersson, Katja Kettu
Script: Katja Kettu, Jan Andersson
Cinematography: Antti Takkunen
Sound: Pirkko Tiitinen
Editing: Jan Andersson
Music: Eero Turkka, Mamo Ensemble
Production: Indie Films Oy / Tomi Riionheimo
The mangel is a male and an angel who falls from the heaven and in love with a tree… - AA: Poetic, Gothic object and digital animation with dark fantasy, birds of prey, creatures of the night, rich visuals, bold colour, ecological currents. Poem by Katja Kettu, narrator Hannu Nurmio.

HYPERMARKET NATION
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 26 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Paula Korva
Script: Paula Korva, Hanna Kuirinlahti
Cinematography: Marianne Lagus
Sound: Pinja Mäki
Editing: Hanna Kuirinlahti
Production: Aalto-yliopisto / Paula Korva
Brothers Ingvar and Stig Palmén run a small grocery store in the suburbs of Helsinki. The store has persisted through six decades but is now faced with fierce competition from huge hypermarkets. The film explores how daily groceries reform our cities. - AA: Starts with an interview of Kalle Kaihari who brought the hypermarket to Finland. Focuses on the small Palmén store who fights the trend of the age. But the nearby store is probably the new trend. The pricing of the hypermarkets can make it impossible for the nearby stores to survive. A documentary with a grim sense of humour.

TIMMY COME HOME
Finland | Suomi 2011
Experimental | 2 min | DVD | col.
Director: Juha Van Ingen
Sound: Juha Van Ingen
Editing: Juha Van Ingen
Timmy come home is a rhythmical -reconstruction of the opening scene of Lassie. - AA: experimental found footage loop movie, a play on our faculties of observation, with a hypnotic suggestive force.

PYRAMIDI / PYRAMID
Finland | Suomi 2012
Fiction | 31 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Mikko Myllylahti
Script: Mikko Myllylahti
Cinematography: Juice Huhtala
Sound: Jussi Rantala
Editing: Antti Jääskeläinen
Music: Antti Tuomivaara
Production: Aalto-yliopisto / Paula Pitkänen
Young man loses his job as a recruiter at the network marketing hoax. Forced to the streets from his employers quarters he encounters a young girl, an outcast who has recently lost her mother and moves in her shabby flat just to get through the worst. - AA: A story of utter marginalization and homelessness starring Martti Kaartinen, Sinna Virtanen, and Heikki "Konkari" Nyyssönen. A "time bank" hoax proposal involved in the beginning, promises of special services in "personnel hire" are frustrated, there is something Dostoyevskyan in the young strange blonde girl.

National Competition 10
BITTERSWEET
Finland | Suomi 2011
Fiction | 3 min | Blu-ray | col.
Director: Reetta Aalto
Script: Reetta Aalto
Cinematography: Jarkko Virtanen
Sound: Mika Niinimaa
Editing: Reetta Aalto
Production: Aalto-yliopisto / Ilkka Mertsola
A little film about two girls and loyalty when one of them suddenly decides to go for a ride with a stranger for money. - AA: A vignette of an evening in town, elliptic, it could have been you.

ÄIDIT / MOTHERS
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 9 min | DigiBeta | col., b&w
Director: Elina Hyvärinen
Script: Elina Hyvärinen
Sound: Elina Hyvärinen
Editing: Helena Öst, Elina Hyvärinen
Production: Kookos Films, Aalto-yliopisto / Elina Hyvärinen
A poetic short film about giving birth. Becoming a mother is anything but painless. For some, reaching the state of utter happiness takes longer than for others. The film is based on archive footage. - AA: Subjective voiceover commentary of a young woman expecting a baby, with black and white footage from Finnish movies (Roland af Hällström?), and poetic nature imagery.

* KÖYHIEN KAMPAAMO / THE POORS' HAIRDRESSER
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 16 min | DVD | col.
Director: Annika Martikainen
Cinematography: Janne Riikonen
Sound: Matias Hakala
Editing: Janne Riikonen, Annika Martikainen
Music: Janne Riikonen
Production: Turku AMK / Johanna Ailio
Demi is a 23-year-old hairdresser, who cuts hair for free at the Veikko Hursti's breadline. The documentary discusses the connection between poverty and appearance, and it gives voice to the deprived women: they want to blend in so they wouldn't be stared at. - AA: "If you are broke, you don't have to look like it". Demi gets a kick in doing favours to people who have nothing. The Veikko Hursti breadline is famous in Finland for helping people who have lost everything.

VARIS / THE CROW
Finland | Suomi 2011
Fiction | 9 min | DigiBeta | col.
Director: Katja Niemi
Script: Katja Niemi
Animation: Kari Pieskä
Cinematography: Eemi Lehto
Sound: Aleksi Tegel
Editing: Pietari Syväjärvi
Music: Alejandro Pedregal
Production: Turku AMK / Outi Hyytinen
The forest is dark and scary. Julia is left behind by her friends, who don`t want to play with her. Julia finds a dead crow, who`s telling her something. The other children also want to have a look at the crow, but Julia won`t give it away without a fight. A fatal accident happens, and then there are only two girls left. Julia sees her opportunity and takes it. - AA: A strong tension in a story about aggression among little girls, with a feeling for the forest.

ELÄIMIÄ ELÄIMILLE / ANIMALS FOR ANIMALS
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 10 min | DigiBeta | col.
Director: Tatu Pohjavirta, Mark Ståhle
Script: Tatu Pohjavirta, Mark Ståhle
Animation: Tatu Pohjavirta, Mark Ståhle
Sound: Salla Hämäläinen
Music: Petri Mattila
Production: Camera Cagliostro / Jyrki Kaipainen
A fragile saleswoman and a huge workman fall in love, but their physical differences cause problems. - AA: An apocalyptic cartoon animation with a sense of caricature, a limited style, a grotesque and violent approach, and a dark worldview. Not for children.

HILJAINEN VIIKKO / ALL HALLOWS' WEEK
Finland | Suomi 2011
Fiction | 18 min | DCP | col.
Director: Jussi Hiltunen
Script: Jussi Hiltunen
Cinematography: JP Passi
Sound: Pietu Korhonen
Editing: Jussi Rautaniemi
Music: Tapani Siirtola
Production: Making Movies Oy / Kaarle Aho
A shooting incident takes place in a small town in Northern Finland. Two witnesses have to cope with sorrow and guilt. - AA: A girl gets to witness the shooting of Laura her sister. The killer approaches her car and shoots himself in the head. She goes to visit a crisis worker. There is a powerful tension in the movie. There is a violent aftermath in front of the bar in front of which Laura had to wait.

PUNAPOSKI / ROSY CHEEK
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 4 min | DigiBeta | col.
Director: Heta Bilaletdin
Animation: Heta Bilaletdin
Music: Heta Bilaletdin
Production: Turku AMK / Eija Saarinen
After a long day at work Rosy Cheek is exhausted and in a bad mood. Story about the monotonous rhythm of the city, a cup of coffee and some wicked music. - AA: Stylized animation, dark, wry, grotesque observations, Priit Pärn influences.

ORGAN
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 13 min | DVD | col.
Director: Tuukka Harala
Script: Tuukka Harala
Cinematography: Tuukka Harala
Sound: Kalle Wahlberg
Editing: Kim Haldin
Music: Organ
Production: Metropolia AMK / Tuukka Harala
In 1982, the Helsinki-based band Organ released its first and till now their only album. Thirty years later, the electronic music group considers its next move. - AA: A funny music documentary with "early" electronic pop music from the album Nekrofiilis.

National Competition 11
KRUMP
Finland | Suomi 2011
Experimental | 5 min | DCP | col.
Director: PV Lehtinen
Script: PV Lehtinen
Cinematography: Matti Helariutta
Sound: PV Lehtinen
Editing: PV Lehtinen
Music: Rinneradio
Production: Cineparadiso Oy / PV Lehtinen
Krump observes movements of a gymnast on rings. Movements are wild as the sound of a violin – just on the edge of being out of control. These movements are performed by Olli Torkkel, an artist from the well-known contemporary circus Cirque du Soleil. - AA: Incredible and impossible feats in the air (trick photography, qf. Olympia). This could also be called a music short film.

A FINNISH FABLE 2011
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 6 min | DigiBeta | col.
Director: Niina Suominen
Script: Niina Suominen
Animation: Niina Suominen
Cinematography: Niina Suominen
Sound: Svante Colérus
Editing: Niina Suominen
Music: Tuomas Toiviainen
Production: Niina Suominen
Contact: AV-arkki / Mikko Mällinen
Snapshots of the life of a mannequin in the countryside. - AA: A humoristic stop motion animation based on the incongruosity of the fashion model doll performing countryside routines.

TUNNELI / THE TUNNEL
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 10 min | DigiBeta | col.
Director: Sakari Suuronen
Script: Sakari Suuronen
Cinematography: Matti Eerikäinen
Sound: Elias Nieminen
Editing: Jussi Sandhu
Music: Miki Brunou
Production: TAMK / Mikko Helmanen
Contact: Mikko Helmanen
When a serious illness strikes you start to look at life from a new perspective. Do you even want to do the things you've been doing? When the healing begins your old life and values don't seem yours anymore. Change is never too late. - AA: The whole life from birth till today put into perspective by lethal illness. Carried by an interior monologue.

KORSOTEORIA / SO IT GOES
Finland | Suomi 2012
Fiction | 29 min | DCP | col.
Director: Antti Heikki Pesonen
Script: Antti Heikki Pesonen
Cinematography: Aarne Tapola
Sound: Toni Teivaala
Editing: Hanna Kuirinlahti
Music: Antti Pouta
Production: Aalto yliopisto / Tia Kalenius
So it Goes is a story about a working class woman called Elli who has never traveled outside of Finland. She will either get a cruise abroad or love. But not both. - AA: A grim and desolate portrait of a young woman who saves coins to make her first trip abroad. There are dark, sharp characterizations such as the teacher who announces his loneliness via the school radio system, the colleague at the storeroom, and the would-be boyfriend who has been hit on the head.

HIIDENKIUAS / STONE
Finland | Suomi 2011
Animation | 7 min | DVD | col.
Director: Janne Kukkonen
Script: Janne Kukkonen
Animation: Janne Kukkonen
Sound: Janne Kukkonen
Editing: Janne Kukkonen
Music: Pekka Tuppurainen
Production: Turku AMK / Eija Saarinen
Old man stumbles upon a strange stone which reveals the deeper essence of sauna. - AA: Fantasy animation: a stony bearpaw comes alive as a sauna spirit which conjures up a magic stove in the heart of the forest.

PITÄÄKÖ MUN KAIKKI HOITAA?
DO I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING?
Finland | Suomi 2011
Fiction | 7 min | DigiBeta | col.
Director: Selma Vilhunen
Script: Kirsikka Saari
Cinematography: Peter Flinckenberg
Sound: Pietari Koskinen
Editing: Selma Vilhunen
Music: Tuomas Skopa
Production: Tuffi Films Oy / Elli Toivoniemi
A comedy about a chaotic morning in a family with kids, and a mother who is determined that it’s best to take care of everything herself. - AA: A comedy perhaps inspired by Four Weddings and a Funeral: the family comes too late (they believe) to the church, but there is a funeral instead of the expected wedding.

* PROFEETTA / PROPHET
Finland | Suomi 2011
Documentary | 23 min | Blu-ray | col., b&w
Director: Veli Granö
Script: Veli Granö
Animation: Henri Pulla
Cinematography: Veli Granö
Sound: Veli Granö
Editing: Veli Granö
Music: Rued Langgaard
Production: Filemo ky / Veli Granö
A lighting struck Markku Mäkinen's childhood home. A fireball burst from the radio and hurled out of the window. That instant Markku's life was changed. In the brightness of the lightning, the invisible creatures in the room were revealed to him. - This poetic, experimental film draws a parallel between the painter Oscar Parviainen (1880-1938) and the seer Markku Mäkinen who appears as himself. When a fireball struck in his oven in his childhood he started to exist on deeper planes of existence, flow through the forest, and wake up from our big slumber (in his own view) and become a hermit and wanderer of the deep forests (in the view of others). The bright, colourful visions of Oscar Parviainen's paintings, and black and white visions of Markku Mäkinen's boat journey on a forest river are the two contrasting sets of imagery in the movie. There are also special effects visualizations of the fireball.