Tampere Film Festival: National Competition 11

Sodan silmät 1918 / The Eyes of a War 1918

Tampere Film Festival (TFF): National Competition 11
T30 | 7.3. THU/TO 16:00 | PLEVNA 5
Language/kieli: Eng, Fin | 98 min

Super Comfort

SUPER COMFORT
Kirsikka Saari | Finland 2018 | Fiction | 15 min
    TFF: "A tragi-comedy about Taina (52) and the loneliness that can set in when the children are out of the house."
    "Lempeä tragikomedia viisikymppisestä Tainasta ja yksinäisyydestä, joka voi asettua taloksi, kun lapset ovat muuttaneet kotona." (TFF)
    AA: Generation gap is as deep as can get as the son comes to visit with his Goth girlfriend. Hitting all the wrong notes. There is no love lost. A chilling family story.

Blue Sky on Mars

BLUE SKY ON MARS
Leena Jääskeläinen | Finland 2018 | Experimental. Animation | 7 min
    TFF: "An experimental animated documentary, based on interviews and animation workshops with an astronomer about her views on science fiction. In the workshops the main character has also animated parts of the final film."
    "Kokeellinen animaatiodokumentti, joka perustuu astronomin näkemyksiin scifistä. Projektin aikana järjestetyissä työpajoissa elokuvan päähenkilö myös itse animoi osia lopullisesta elokuvasta." (TFF)
    AA: Experimental animation with time lapse, stop motion, flipboards, cross-sections, pixillation, line drawings, lava, Lego animation, Northern lights, stardust, and a twisted surprise hommage to Planet of the Apes. Joy of animation.

SODAN SILMÄT 1918
THE EYES OF A WAR 1918
Jouko Aaltonen, Seppo Rustanius | Finland 2018 | Documentary | 22 min
    TFF: "The Finnish civil war in 1918 was also a children’s war, with child soldiers on both sides. Children saw and experienced everything, fought in battles, were wounded and also executed. But children also played on the ruins of the war and believed in their future. The Eyes of a War is based on authentic photographs, and they speak for themselves. Each child, White and Red alike, is a victim of war."
    "Vuoden 1918 sisällissota oli myös lasten sota, sillä lapsisotilaita värvättiin molemmille puolille. Lapset näkivät ja kokivat kaiken, taistelivat aikuisten rinnalla, haavoittuivat ja joutuivat teloitetuiksi. Mutta lapset myös leikkivät sodan jälkeensä jättämissä raunioissa ja uskoivat tulevaisuuteen. Sodan silmät 1918 perustuu aitoihin valokuviin, jotka eivät selityksiä kaipaa. Jokainen kuvien lapsi, olipa hän valkoinen tai punainen, oli sodan uhri." (TFF)
    AA: Childhood is a privileged theme in the cinema as demonstrated by Mark Cousins in A Story of Children and Film. We think of Iran and Africa when we speak of child soldiers. But a hundred years ago we had child soldiers in Finland in our horrible civil war of 1918. There is a lot of photographic records of them, and Jouko Aaltonen and Seppo Rustanius have created a moving photo-montage of them covering the child's gaze, the child as a soldier, maimed corpses, humiliated prisoners, defiant eyes, faces turned serious too early, grieving children at graves, orphans, and schoolchildren after the war. In the end titles the photographers are credited, and they are among the greatest talents of the age. The address of the photographs is enhanced when they are projected on a cinema screen. The close-ups turn more fascinating. The records of concentration camps, parades and mass graves gain in epic stature. The visual quality is fine. ♪ Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen.

Kaivos / The Mine

KAIVOS
THE MINE
D: Tommi Kainulainen | Finland 2018 | Experimental, Documentary | 7 min
    TFF: "A group a musicians are lured to gather deep down in an underground mine connected through the sounds of Finnish folk music led by the Notka accordionist and composer Anne-Mari Kivimäki."
    "Ryhmä muusikoita mainaavat suomalaisen kansanmusiikin säveliä maan uumenista säveltäjä Anne-Mari Kivimäen houkuttamana." (TFF)
    AA: A music video: the music emerges from the depths of the underground. Based on the crescendo principle: the music and the orchestra keep growing. ♪ "Kaivos" / "The Mine", Anne-Mari Kivimäki's "hypnotic etno music from Finland" played on her Notka accordeon, also published on YouTube.

Tiikeri / The Tiger

TIIKERI
THE TIGER
Mikko Myllylahti | Finland 2018 | Fiction | 11 min
    TFF: "On a winter evening Dad returns home drunk. Tiger is in his room and Mom is sleeping on the couch. A quarrel breaks out. Dad has a shotgun. Tiger and Mom escape the house. Haunting silence falls. Tiger must return inside to see what has happened – and to take the first steps towards independence."
    "Talvisena iltana isä tulee kotiin humalassa. Tiikeri on huoneessaan ja äiti nukkuu sohvalla. Riita puhkeaa. Isällä on haulikko. Tiikeri ja äiti pakenevat ulos. Karmiva hiljaisuus laskeutuu. Tiikerin on palattava sisälle katsomaan mitä on tapahtunut – ja samalla otettava ensimmäiset askeleet kohti itsenäisyyttä." (TFF)
    AA: Coming to terms with a traumatic family situation (alcoholism, family violence, threatening with a shotgun) via donning a tiger mask.

Star Shaped Scar

STAR SHAPED SCAR
Vuokko Kunttu, Virva Kunttu | Finland 2018 | Documentary | 13 min
    TFF: "Star shaped scar is a short documentary about Jasmin Britney Koskiranta, a 26-year-old young woman from Finland. Jasmin does not work and she rarely leaves her apartment. Jasmin has a passion for clothes, make-up and especially for expensive shoes. She has several pairs of designer shoes that cost about 5000 euros a pair. These shoes have very high heels and are almost impossible to walk in. For Jasmin that makes no difference because she never walks in them."
    "Jasmin Britney pitää prinsessamekoista, meikeistä ja kaikista ihanista ja kiiltävistä tavaroista. Hänen suurin intohimonsa ovat kalliit Christian Louboutine kengät. Näillä kengillä on niin korkea korko, että niillä on mahdoton kävellä." (TFF)
    AA: Jasmin has become a living doll whose sole purpose in life is her appearance. In the finale we learn the full story. In her childhood she was hit by a car on a zebra crossing / crosswalk, and her spinal cord was severed. Nurses take care of her uninterruptedly in three shifts. The viewer figures of this film are high at the Yle Areena site.

Mummola / Family Time

MUMMOLA
FAMILY TIME
Tia Kouvo | Finland, Sweden 2018 | Fiction | 23 min
    TFF: "A Finnish family gathers to spend a weekend together at grandparents’. When the night goes on, we realize that this is how things always go. By looking at recognizable patterns, the film is a humoristic and thought-provoking study in family dynamics and structures."
    "Suomalainen perhe kokoontuu mummolaan viettämään viikonloppua yhdessä. Illan edetessä käy ilmeiseksi, että näinhän asiat aina menevät. Elokuva tarkastelee yleistä tapaamme toimia ja pohtii humoristisella ja ajatuksia herättävällä tavalla perheiden sisäisiä rakenteita ja dynamiikkaa." (TFF)
    AA: Another desolate account of the generation gap as a family visits Granny. The discomfort is epic in all details. A study in the awkward.