Tampere Film Festival 2020: National Competition 8

Malakias: Luuranko kaapissa / A Skeleton in the Closet.

National Competition 8
Tampere International Film Festival (TFF)
Plevna 2, Tampere, 6 March 2020.

LUURANKO KAAPISSA
SKELETON IN THE CLOSET

Malakias | Finland 2019 | Animation | 11 min

TFF: "A Stranger In A Strange Land, Exodus 2:22"

"Muukalainen vieraalla maalla, 2. Moos. 2:22"

AA: Animation based on line drawing, white on black / dark, reduced, personal, grotesque, macabre. personal and original.

Merja Maijanen: Kiltti tyttö / Good Girl.

KILTTI TYTTÖ
GOOD GIRL

Merja Maijanen | Finland, Estonia, Portugal 2019 | Fiction | 12 min

TFF: "After being awarded for being a good girl, a naive little girl learns what it really means to be one."

"Saatuaan palkinnon kiltteydestään sinisilmäinen pikkutyttö oppii, mitä todella tarkoittaa olla kiltti tyttö."

AA: A striking vignette from domestic life and domestic violence. The Hymytyttö [Smiling Girl] statuette is a traditional special school award for a contribution to good team spirit in the school community. The daughter gets one. It is Christmas time, mother visits a "Little Christmas" party, at night there is a violent encounter with father who has had one drink too many. At breakfast a "keep smiling" atmosphere is enforced. Theme song: "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town".

Hanna Hovitie: Terraria. Misu who lives with snakes.

TERRARIA

Hanna Hovitie | Hungary, Finland 2019 | Documentary | 17 min

TFF: "In peaceful swampland, a solitary man wades through long grass, crawling carefully through the water. Unable to fit in with the world of humans, Misu prefers to spend his time with cold-blooded reptiles, caring for them with extraordinary empathy. Solitude is his way of survival but also his biggest enemy."

"Rauhallisella suolla yksinäinen mies kahlaa heinikossa ja ryömii varoen vesien halki. Ihmisten maailmaan sopeutumaton Misu viettää mieluummin aikansa kylmäveristen liskojen kanssa ja huolehtii niistä poikkeuksellisen empaattisesti. Yksinäisyys on hänen selviytymiskeinonsa, mutta myös pahin vihollisensa." TFF

AA: In Hungarian, a portrait documentary of a loner who lives with snakes and keeps catching water snakes in shallow waters. He feeds thems and breeds them and otherwise immerses himself in digital games.

Teemu Niukkanen: Onko sulla nälkä? / Are You Hungry? Matvei German as the adopted teenage son who is a total mystery to his mother.

ONKO SULLA NÄLKÄ?
ARE YOU HUNGRY?

Teemu Niukkanen | Finland 2019 | Fiction | 12 min

TFF: "A single mother struggles to connect with her adopted teenage son, who she believes is gay. Worried that the vulnerable boy will fall victim to older men preying on young boys online, she takes it upon herself to guide him safely through this period of self-exploration by setting him up on a date."

"Yksinhuoltajaäiti yrittää saada yhteyden adoptoituun teinipoikaansa, jonka uskoo olevan homo. Pelätessään, että herkkä poika jää netissä saalistavien vanhempien miesten uhriksi, hän ottaa asiakseen opastaa pojan turvallisesti läpi itsetutkiskelun vaiheen järjestämällä tälle treffit."

AA: Generation gap writ large. The mother is light years away from her teenage son adopted from Asia. A radical experiment leads nowhere and the distant son keeps his cool.

Milja Viita: When We Are Nothing Left. A film about infinity.

WHEN WE ARE NOTHING LEFT

Milja Viita | Finland, Canada 2020 | Experimental, Documentary | 8 min

TFF: "A minimalist film about time, infinity and life cycle, created in the spirit of William Blake. The film is shot and hand processed at the Film Farm in Ontario, Canada, during the summer 2018."

"Minimalistinen elokuva ajasta, äärettömyydestä ja elämänkierrosta William Blaken hengessä. Elokuva on kuvattu ja kehitetty käsityönä Film Farmilla Ontariossa, Kanadassa kesällä 2018."

AA: Shot on photochemical film, a film of duration, about the universe and eternity, a film of meditation like Untitled (White - Alps) by Salla Tykkä seen in a previous programme in this festival.

Teppo Airaksinen: Keppi / The Stick. The little daughter (Elina Patrakka) gets a substitute for a dog.

KEPPI
THE STICK

Teppo Airaksinen | Finland 2019 | Fiction | 11 min

TFF: "Denied a dog by her father, a young girl gets a very unusual new friend."

"Kun isä ei anna ottaa koiraa, nuori tyttö saa hyvin epätavallisen ystävän." TFF

AA: A family tragicomedy with top actors. A bad move by the father who tries to cope with a daughter who insists on a dog. If she will walk a stick for two weeks, three times a day, she is promised a dog. Starring Elina Patrakka, Juho Milonoff and Vilma Melasniemi.

Maija Blåfield: The Fantastic. Video and digital artifacts as a form of expression.

THE FANTASTIC

Maija Blåfield | Finland 2020 | Documentary | 30 min

TFF: "The Fantastic is a film about imagination and encountering the unknown. Former North Koreans describe their experiences of watching forbidden foreign films. What did they imagine the world outside to be like on the basis of smuggled fiction films?"

"The Fantastic on elokuva mielikuvituksesta ja tuntemattoman kohtaamisesta. Entiset pohjoiskorealaiset kertovat kotimaassaan salaa katsomistaan kielletyistä ulkomaisista elokuvista. Millaiseksi he kuvittelivat tuntemattoman ulkomaailman, kun tietolähteenä toimivat salakuljetetut fiktioelokuvat?" TFF

AA: Instead of a predictable account about North Korea this movie opens surprising insights into the Western imagination and new dismal insights about the totalitarian tyranny. The film is also a piece of media art where the VHS aesthetique and digital artifacts become a form of expression.