Tampere Film Festival: National Competition 10

Timo Wright: Ex Nihilo.

Eng/Fin | 88 min
In the presence of Katri Onnela, Christina Lassheikki, Sami van Ingen, Mika Taanila, Khadar Ahmed, Leena Jääskeläinen, and Hannu-Pekka Peltomaa.
Tampere Film Festival (TFF), National Competition 10, Plevna 2, Friday 9 March 2018

EX NIHILO
Timo Wright | Finland, South Korea 2018 | Experimental, Documentary | 9 min
    TFF: "Ex Nihilo is an experimental short documentary about life, death and our attempts to control them. It tells the stories of an advanced humanoid robot, a cryonics facility, where the brains of deceased people are held and of a international seed vault, where crop seed from around the world are held frozen."
    "Ex Nihilo on kokeellinen dokumenttielokuva elämästä, kuolemasta ja tavoitteistamme kontrolloida niitä. Elokuva kertoo erittäin kehittyneestä robotista, kryoniikkalaitoksesta, jossa kuolleiden aivoja säilytetään jäädytettyinä, sekä siemenpankista, jonne on säilötty ruokakasvien siemeniä ympäri maailmaa."

AA: A chilling black and white futuristic documentary vision intercutting three storylines: the amazing HUBO robot, the Oregon Cryonics preserving human brains (see image above), and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The brave new world does not look inviting. Katri Onnela's portentous score brings it into an amusingly satirical perspective.

Riku Savikko, Pauliina Parjanen, Jade Woods, Vilma Väisänen, Jenni Nylander, Christina Lassheikki: Bring Your Child to Work.

BRING YOUR CHILD TO WORK
TUO LAPSESI TÖIHIN
Riku Savikko, Pauliina Parjanen, Jade Woods, Vilma Väisänen, Jenni Nylander, Christina Lassheikki | Finland 2017 | Animation | 8 min
    TFF: "A child comes home from school with a message to their parents about the Bring Your Child to Work -day. After a long wait with their dog, the parent finally arrives home – and takes the child to a rather different workplace."
    "Lapsi tulee koulusta kotiin mukanaan viesti vanhemmille, jossa kehotetaan ottamaan lapsi mukaan töihin. Lapsi odottaa koiran kanssa, kunnes hänen vanhempansa vihdoin saapuu ja vie hänet tutustumaan jokseenkin erilaiseen työpaikkaan."

AA: A rich array of animation techniques is in use in this dark fairy-tale which starts as a photorealistic puppet animation and proceeds as a journey towads the river of death. From daytime reality there is a passage into another world. The hall of light is awesome.

Sami van Ingen: Polte. Damaged frame from Teuvo Tulio's Nuorena nukkunut (1937) starring Regina Linnanheimo as Silja.

POLTE
FLAME
Sami van Ingen | Finland 2018 | Experimental, Fiction | 15 min
    TFF: "A fractured melodrama, based on damaged frames from the lost feature film Silja – Fallen Asleep When Young (1937) directed by Teuvo Tulio."
    "Sirpaleinen melodraama, joka pohjautuu vaurioituneeseen filmimateriaaliin Teuvo Tulion ohjaamasta elokuvasta Nuorena nukkunut (1937)."

AA: Sami van Ingen revealed that he did not do much anything to the image of the badly decayed surviving footage of Teuvo Tulio's Nuorena nukkunut / Silja (1937), a legendary lost film, fragments of which were repatriated in 2015 to KAVI by La Cinémathèque française. Van Ingen just slowed the images down 10-15 times until the tempo seemed just right. The ravages of time, the fragility of existence, the fading beauty, and the conflagration of cultural heritage become themes in van Ingen's film. The flame in Regina Linnanheimo's eyes ("silmissä noissa synti on syvä" / "in the eyes of hers / the sin is deep") is no less burning in this battleground of a lost film. Associations runs from Lascaux cave paintings to cosmic visions of the night sky. The cinematography of Erik Blomberg can still be appreciated in these ruins.

Petra Koponen: Apila.

APILA
APILA – OUTSIDE THE BINARY
Petra Koponen | Finland 2017 | Documentary | 11 min
    TFF: "After a childhood spent tightly together with a twin sister, Apila began to question their gender identity. The strong feminine example set by the twins’ older sister conflicted with Apila’s experience of gender. Today the 25 year old identifies as gender queer and addresses transgender people’s rights through her comic art. Creating art is also a way for Apila to explore their gender identity. At times Apila has experienced strong body dysphoria but has learned to love their body and to accept that one might never achieve their ideals."
    "Kaksoissiskon kanssa tiiviisti yhdessä vietetyn lapsuuden jälkeen Apila alkoi kyseenalaistamaan sukupuoli-identiteettiään. Kaksosten vanhemmalta siskolta tullut vahva feminiininen esikuva oli ristiriidassa oman sukupuolikokemuksen kanssa. Nykyään muunsukupuoliseksi identifioituva 25-vuotias Apila ottaa kantaa trans-ihmisten oikeuksiin sarjakuvataiteensa kautta. Taide on hänelle myös tapa purkaa ja käsitellä sukupuoli-identiteettiään. Voimakastakin kehodysforiaa kokenut Apila on oppinut rakastamaan omaa kehoaan, sekä hyväksymään sen, että omaa ideaalia ei ehkä koskaan pysty saavuttamaan."

AA: The twins no longer can tell each other apart in childhood photographs. Apila since then has questioned her gender identity, and we learn about gender dysphoria. (Dysphoria is the opposite of euphoria). Drawing body contures on a computer screen is a recurrent visual motif, as well as Apila creating her comic strip Moss Dass. The body is a project.

THE WORLD
MAAILMA
Mika Taanila | Finland 2017 | Experimental, Documentary | 7 min
    TFF: "The Man Who Fell to Earth (dir. Nicolas Roeg 1976) evacuated and flipped. In abandoned landscapes, animals, furniture and empty vehicles are left awaiting for disaster. ”We must have died alone, a long long time ago.” (D.B.)"
    "Mies toisesta maailmasta (ohj. Nicolas Roeg, 1976) evakuoituna ja ylösalaisin. Autioissa maisemissa eläimet, huonekalut ja tyhjät kulkuneuvot odottavat tuhoa. ”Me varmaan kuolimme yksin kauan, kauan sitten.” (D.B.)"

AA: An eulogy for David Bowie. Non-human imagery from The Man Who Fell to Earth flipped over and rearranged. A cosmic rumble is evoked, atavistic forces are at play. Nature footage approaches the status of painting. Experience estranged, senses of perception rebooted. A film of disorientation. We become the man who fell to earth, the alien.

Khadar Ahmed: Yövaras / The Night Thief.

YÖVARAS
THE NIGHT THIEF
Khadar Ahmed | Finland 2017 | Fiction | 15 min
    TFF: "The Night Thief is a warmhearted drama set in the suburbs of Helsinki, Finland. It tells the story of a Somali man, Farah, whose car starts to disappear mysteriously at night. Although the car always shows up in the morning, Farah starts to run late from work, and fears that he could lose his job. Farah’s wife is moving to Finland from Somalia and if Farah were to get fired, his wife’s residency permit would be in danger. Due to the circumstances, Farah decides to do whatever it takes to catch the thief. In the end, things take an unexpected turn when Farah finally faces the person who has been stealing his car."
    "Yövaras on Helsingin lähiöihin sijoittuva lämminhenkinen draama. Se on tarina somalimiehestä Farahista, jonka auto alkaa oudosti katoilla öisin. Vaikka auto aina aamuksi palaakin, myöhästyy Farah silti usein töistä ja alkaa pelätä saavansa potkut. Farahin vaimo on muuttamassa Somaliasta Suomeen, ja jos Farah menettää työnsä, vaimon oleskelulupa vaarantuu. Olosuhteista johtuen Farah päättää tehdä kaikkensa napatakseen varkaan. Lopussa seuraa yllättävä käänne, kun Farah viimein kohtaa henkilön, joka on varastellut hänen autoaan."

AA: Directed by Khadar Ahmed who scripted the interesting Saattokeikka (2017) last year. Based on a true story, the humoristic The Night Thief tells of a mysterious nocturnal car thief due to whom the protagonist almost loses his job because he is always late for work. In the surprise finale something bigger happens than getting to work on time.

Leena Jääskeläinen: Contact!

CONTACT!
OSUMA!
Leena Jääskeläinen | Finland 2017 | Experimental, Animation | 3 min
    TFF: "An experimental short film about movement and meeting. Contact! explores differences and similarities between dancing and martial arts aikido and judo. Technique is hand painted digital animation. Contact! was originally a projected animation installation without any sound. Both the director and musical composer of the film version of Contact! hold a black belt in aikido."
    "Kokeellinen lyhytelokuva liikkeestä ja kohtaamisesta. Osuma! tutkii eroja ja yhtäläisyyksiä tanssin sekä aikidon ja judon välillä käsinmaalatun digitaalisen animaation keinoin. Elokuva oli alun perin mykkäanimaatio. Sekä elokuvaversion ohjaajalla että säveltäjällä on musta vyö aikidossa."

AA: A hand-painted animation bringing together dance, aikido and judo, originally an installation, originally vertical. Leena Jääskeläinen believes in the future of the vertical movie. Engaging visually and musically. The attractive score is by Nikolai Kleiman, called "Dance of the Colour Characters".

Hannu-Pekka Peltomaa: Ruusukoto / Rose Garden.

RUUSUKOTO
ROSE GARDEN
Hannu-Pekka Peltomaa | Finland 2017 | Fiction | 22 min
C: Göran Schauman (Oskar), Leena Uotila (Sylvi), Arja Pekurinen (Hertta).
    TFF: "“We need to get out of here”. Rose Garden is an absurd story about institutionalized elderly care and lust for life."
    "“Meidän on päästävä pois täältä.” Ruusukoto on absurdi kertomus vanhusten laitoshoidosta ja elämänhalusta."

AA: A black comedy about a rest home where the conditions are so dismal that the residents plan to commit murder in order to be convicted to a prison sentence. Fully aware that the conditions are superior there. "We Gotta Get out of This Place" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, 1965, first recorded by The Animals), a big hit in the Vietnam War, could sum this up.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: TIMO WRIGHT ON EX NIHILO:
BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: TIMO WRIGHT ON EX NIHILO:

EX NIHILO: TIMO WRIGHT WEBSITE

Ex Nihilo is an experimental short documentary about life, death and our attempts to control them.

It tells three separate and seemingly unrelated stories. The stories, which are played out on three different screens, start to slowly entwine, creating new interpretations and meanings.

The first film is about one of the most advanced humanoid robots, HUBO. It can walk on uneven terrain, drive a vehicle and operate different tools. It can also transform into a four-wheel vehicle. Some versions of it have voice recognition and the ability to create speech.

The second film is about Oregon Cryonics, a cryonics organisation in Salem, Oregon, USA. At their facility human brains of deceased people are kept at very low temperatures. The objective is that, in the future, the brain or its memory might be revived or reconstructed.

The third film is about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which s situated on the island of Spitsbergen midway between Norway and the North Pole. The vault holds seeds of more than 4000 different plant species at −18 °C. The crates of seeds from all around the world are kept side-by-side deep inside the frozen vault.