Ei yhteyttä / No Connection

Ei yhteyttä / No Connection. Joni Leponiemi as Matti.

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 9
T34 | 9.3. THU/TO 16:00 | PLEVNA 5
P15 | 10.3. FRI/PE 18:00 | PLEVNA 2
Duration/kesto: 95 min
EI YHTEYTTÄ
NO CONNECTION
Risto-Pekka Blom | Finland 2017 | Fiction | 16 min

TFF: Falling down due to a personal tragedy may save a person from themselves. Matti has drifted into a double life, unable of taking responsibility for his actions and their effects on those close to him.

Henkilökohtaisesta tragediasta johtuva romahtaminen voi pelastaa ihmisen häneltä itseltään. Matti on ajautunut kaksoiselämään eikä kykene ottamaan vastuuta teoistaan tai niiden vaikutuksista hänen läheisiinsä. TFF

AA: A well made drama of the double life of Matti with two families. Everybody literally falls down when he is exposed. A miniature tragedy with good performances and touches of magical realism as Matti tries to end everything by crashing his car towards a base station.

Radio Dolores

Radio Dolores: Arvo is leaving Tampere to join the International Brigade in Spain in 1937. He leaves behind his wife and son.

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 9
T34 | 9.3. THU/TO 16:00 | PLEVNA 5
P15 | 10.3. FRI/PE 18:00 | PLEVNA 2
Duration/kesto: 95 min
RADIO DOLORES
Katariina Lillqvist | Finland, Czech Republic 2016 | Animation | 18 min

Narrator: Jotaarkka Pennanen.
Beautiful soundtrack with e.g. Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers: "¡Ay Manuela!" (1943).

TFF: Radio Dolores is a puppet animation documentary of the everyday lives of shoe factory workers in 1930s Tampere. It tells the story of stove room rebels, the illegal radio transmitters of cold attics, and shoemaker Arvo, who disappeared in the Spanish Civil War and left his son only an accordion and a ticket to the jail in Malaga.

Radio Dolores on dokumentaarinen nukkeanimaatio tamperelaisen kenkätehtaan työläisten arjesta 1930-luvulla. Se kertoo hellahuoneiden kapinallisista, kylmien vinttien laittomista radiovastaanottimista sekä Espanjan sisällissodassa kadonneesta suutarista Arvosta joka jätti pojalleen perinnöksi vain haitarin ja matkalipun Malagan poliisivankilaan. TFF

AA: A masterpiece by Katariina Lillqvist, a poet in Finnish puppet animation, usually based in the Czech Republic, continuing the great tradition of Jiří Trnka and Jan Švankmajer.

Radio Dolores is a story of Finnish solidarity to the Spanish Republicans in 1936-1939. A story of solidarity as a matter of life and death. Even the ones who listened to illegal radio channels risked being sentenced to prison. Told as a first person narrative by the son of Arvo who disappered in Malaga having joined the international brigades in 1937 and whose wife was put to prison having listened to Radio Dolores. The son travels to Andalusia in the 1960s in search of Arvo and is also put to jail having played "¡Ay Manuela!" on the accordeon.

The Finnish milieu is the great Aaltonen shoe factory where Arvo meets his wife. She has started there at the age of 12, and her lungs are getting poisoned by shoe sole glues. The Aaltosen Kenkätehdas factory (1889-1984) was still a big presence in the 1970s when as a student even I once had a summer job there.

Radio Dolores is a beautiful piece of proletarian folklore, a display of the true heart of the international workers' movement.

Tulivuori / Volcano

Tulivuori. Kaisa Koskenkorva as the woman who calls her ex-lover.

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 9
T34 | 9.3. THU/TO 16:00 | PLEVNA 5
P15 | 10.3. FRI/PE 18:00 | PLEVNA 2

TULIVUORI
VOLCANO
YELLOWSTONE
Lauri-Matti Parppei | Finland 2016 | Fiction | 9 min

TFF: A former couple talk with each other for the first time after their separation and one short telephone call embodies their years together.

Pois muuttaessaan nuori nainen soittaa sille, jonka kanssa ennen asui. TFF

AA: Tulivuori by Lauri-Matti Parppei belongs to the difficult tradition of "La Voix humaine" of Jean Cocteau. Here it is about a couple who has separated a while ago. The woman has left him, and now she would want to meet him again, but he refuses.

She mentions the volcano Yellowstone. If it would erupt, there would be nuclear winter. With whom would you want to spend the last moments of your life?

Tender and intense, well acted by Kaisa Koskenkorva and Ilari Pulli. The man is mostly only heard as a voice on the telephone. An original interpretation of an eternal theme.

Embrace

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 9
T34 | 9.3. THU/TO 16:00 | PLEVNA 5
P15 | 10.3. FRI/PE 18:00 | PLEVNA 2

EMBRACE
Timo Wright | Finland 2016 | Experimental, fiction | 5 min

TFF: An abandoned house, furniture strewn around, discarded. Slowly, red smoke starts to pour in through the doors. Eventually the whole house is engulfed with the smoke that hides everything from our sight.

Hylätty puutalo, täynnä yksinäisiä huonekaluja. Hitaasti punainen savu rupeaa valumaan sisään ovista. Lopulta koko talo on peittynyt savuun. TFF

AA: A meditation on space and vision. The deserted house is filled with smoke which engulfs everything. The shots are static with no camera movement. There is a gentle, string dominated score on the soundtrack.

Golgata / Golgotha

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 8
P13 | 10.3. FRI/PE 14:00 | PLEVNA 2
L34 | 11.3. SAT/LA 16:00 | PLEVNA 5

GOLGATA
GOLGOTHA
Ulla Heikkilä | Finland 2016 | Fiction | 28 min

C: Nuua Kosminen (Inari), Irina Pulkka (Minna), Janne Reinikainen (Elias), Alva Pulkkinen (Kerttu).

Juho Milonoff (Antero), Marjaana Maijala (Sara), Myrsky Moila (Vertti), Verne Viitala (Väinö), Ona Kamu (Jatta), Marc Gassot (Peter), Alina Tomnikov (Mila), Vera Paasilinna (Frida), Vilma Salmi (balloon seller).

Songs include: "Vappulaulu" (Toivo Kuula, Larin-Kyösti) perf. Ylioppilaskunnan laulajat joht. Pasi Hyökki 2013. "Lopun runoelma" (Tytti Arola, Marina Tsvetayeva) perf. Ona Kamu. "Ev'ry Night and Ev'ry Day" (Jimmy Reed, Aira Puurtinen) perf. Honey B and T-Bones. "Our Father Which Art in Heaven" (trad. arr. Don Robey) perf. Original Five Blind Boys (Jackson Harmoneers), 1950.

TFF: 10-year-old Inari is preparing for the traditional May Day celebrations with her enthusiastic mother and reluctant father. In order to ensure an enjoyable evening for everyone Inari decides to make a deal with God.

Kymmenvuotias Inari valmistautuu perinteiseen vapunpäivän juhlintaan innostuneen äitinsä ja vastahakoisen isänsä kanssa. Taatakseen kaikille mukavan illan Inari päättää tehdä sopimuksen Jumalan kanssa. TFF

AA: A tragicomical May Day party at a home with artistic friends. The dysfunctional father (Janne Reinikainen) is suffering from writer's block and to his horror learns that the subject of his great project, The Wandering Jew, is being adopted by others for an imminent production at the National Theatre. All this is seen from the viewpoint of the teenage daughter Inari who has made a pact with God, but her disappointment in the result is infinite. Music is important in this performance-driven film by a strong cast, especially "The Poem of the End" by Marina Tsvetayeva sung by Ona Kamu.

The title of the film refers to the way of both father and daughter.

Overlook

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 8
P13 | 10.3. FRI/PE 14:00 | PLEVNA 2
L34 | 11.3. SAT/LA 16:00 | PLEVNA 5

OVERLOOK

Pink Twins | Finland 2017 | Experimental, animation | 6 min

TFF: Impossible architecture, an ancient burial ground and a lure for psychotic janitors were the building blocks of Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. In this story vignette, chaos animators Pink Twins add zero gravity and a rupture in space-time continuum to the mix and serve a taster of subtle cosmic horror.

Mahdoton arkkitehtuuri, muinainen hautausmaa ja henkisesti epävakaat kausityöntekijät ovat elementtejä, jotka yhdistyvät Overlook-hotellissa Stanley Kubrickin Hohdossa. Animaatiovinjetissään Pink Twins sekoittaa mukaan painovoiman ja tila-aika-jatkumon häiriöt ja keittää kokoon hienovaraisen annoksen kosmista kauhua. – See more at: http://www.av-arkki.fi/teokset/overlook/#sthash.SuXtYo8V.dpuf  TFF

AA: A tribute to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, we see the "redrum" wall of blood of Overlook Hotel. The Pink Twins continue to apocalyptic visions of their own. A cosmic nightmare.

Sore Eyes for Infinity

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 8
P13 | 10.3. FRI/PE 14:00 | PLEVNA 2
L34 | 11.3. SAT/LA 16:00 | PLEVNA 5
Duration/kesto: 93 min

SORE EYES FOR INFINITY

Elli Vuorinen | Finland 2016 | Animation | 12 min

TFF: An optician comes face to face with a collection of curious clients during her workday.

Optikko kohtaa työpäivänsä aikana joukon eriskummallisia asiakkaita. TFF

AA: Elli Vuorinen, one of the finest Finnish animation artists (Benigni, 2009, Sukkavartaankatu 8, 2013), is at her best here.

The sense of rhythm, mood, and the dream mode are assured. There is a constant sense of wonder at the inventions of the story. The visual world is beautifully stylized, and the colour world is pleasing.

The protagonist is a female optician whose customers include an old lady with broken glasses, a monkey buying a box of red-green 3D glasses, an ancient man who needs a telescope, a little boy who steals, and a sexy woman who buys contact lenses. A blind man keeps walking past the shop, and when he drops his dark glasses, the optician follows him, meeting his customers at their preoccupations on the way, including the monkey who runs a sex show; she cuts his wrist and keeps the monkey's paw. The shadows of the optician and the blind man join in the finale, and there are cosmic and psychedelic colour visions that we have learned to associate with sex appeal.

More than well made, Sore Eyes for Infinity is a reminder of the potential of animation for limitless imagination.

Todella kiihottavaa / Sexy as Hell

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 8
P13 | 10.3. FRI/PE 14:00 | PLEVNA 2
L34 | 11.3. SAT/LA 16:00 | PLEVNA 5
Duration/kesto: 93 min

TODELLA KIIHOTTAVAA
SEXY AS HELL

Kimmo Taavila | Finland 2016 | Fiction | 10 min

TFF: When an accounting company moves, it’s CEO gets an opportunity to display her awesome management skills.

Kun kirjanpitoyritys muuttaa, sen toimitusjohtaja saa tilaisuuden esitellä mahtavia johtamistaitojaan. TFF

AA: To the sound of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" a satirical sketch of a boss queen about to close a wonderful deal. She drives the moving van herself, losing all the office equipment on the way. There is a sharp touch in comic timing and acting, and the cinematography is excellent, but might the satirical angle on a woman boss and driver feel a tad tired.

Vasile

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 8
P13 | 10.3. FRI/PE 14:00 | PLEVNA 2
L34 | 11.3. SAT/LA 16:00 | PLEVNA 5

VASILE

Sakari Suuronen | Romania 2017 | Documentary | 23 min

TFF: Poling hay, funerals, and recording village events. A portrait of a peasant, who stopped time.

Heinän seivästystä, hautajaisia ja kylän tapahtumien tallentamista. Muotokuva talonpojasta, joka pysäytti ajan. TFF

AA: A beautiful documentary of the farmer Vasile Oanea who lives as a single and performs the traditional farming and household chores while also recording everything that happens in the village with his camera. "You never get bored with good people". He records a village funeral and the renovation of the church. He listens to a radio programme on shyness. He finishes a huge task of archiving all his images organized according to themes and dates. We also see his kindness to the nature, releasing a little bird and observing a butterfly. A classical style documentary well made.

Sex at the Ski Center / Seksiä hiihtokeskuksessa

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 8
P13 | 10.3. FRI/PE 14:00 | PLEVNA 2
L34 | 11.3. SAT/LA 16:00 | PLEVNA 5

SEX AT THE SKI CENTER
SEKSIÄ HIIHTOKESKUKSESSA

Heikki Ahola | Finland 2017 | [Experimental, documentary] [I would call this puppet animation]| 3 min

TFF: When it`s cold outside, it gets hot at the ski center.

Vaikka ulkona on kylmä, nousee lämpö hiihtokeskuksessa. TFF

AA: A puppet animation about what really goes on at the ski center. Teddy bears, toy monkeys and rabbit dolls engage in gentle sex acts to a soundtrack of a brass band and moans of fulfillment.

Henki / Breath

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 8
P13 | 10.3. FRI/PE 14:00 | PLEVNA 2
L34 | 11.3. SAT/LA 16:00 | PLEVNA 5

HENKI
BREATH

Fanni Niemi-Junkola | Finland 2016 | Experimental, documentary | 12 min

TFF: Presence, body, power, pulse. The image of a horse is loaded with a variety of meanings in mythology, sports and arts. I deal with the co-existence of the animal and the human and its boundaries, the consumption yet the need of seeking connection to oneself via nature.

Läsnäolo, keho, voima, pulssi. Kuva hevosesta on merkityksillä ladattu mytologiassa, urheilussa ja taiteessa. Käsittelen eläimen ja ihmisen symbioosia ja sen rajoja, kulutusta sekä tarvetta etsiä yhteyttä itseen luonnon kautta. TFF

AA: A triple screen film on the joy of movement with a young woman on a horse. Wordless, with meditative music only.

Isäni tähtien takaa / My Father from Sirius

Isäni tähtien takaa / My Father from Sirius. The director Einari Paakkanen with his father, testing with a divining rod whether there is a place of cosmic energy there.

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 7

P11 | 10.3. FRI/PE 10:00 | PLEVNA 2 |
Language/kieli: Eng/Fin

ISÄNI TÄHTIEN TAKAA
MY FATHER FROM SIRIUS

Einari Paakkanen | Finland 2016 | Documentary | 84 min

TFF: Einari’s childhood could have been just like any other Finnish boy’s. His father Veikko worked a normal job in a small town’s tax office, and his mother was a journalist. Everything changed when Einari was 12 years old; father Veikko became enlightened, announcing that he was a messenger between the Earth and outer space. He said he saw aliens, could contact the beyond, and possessed paranormal healing abilities. Einari and Veikko became a team, for whom the entire universe was wide open. Now, 25 years later, Einari confronts his father with his suspicions.

Einarin lapsuus olisi voinut olla kuten muidenkin suomalaisten poikien. Isä Veikko kävi normaalisti töissä pikkukaupungin verotoimistossa ja äiti työskenteli toimittajana. Kaikki muuttui Einarin ollessa 12-vuotias; isä Veikko koki valaistumisen ilmoittaen olevansa Maan ja ulkoavaruuden välinen sanansaattaja. Hän kertoi näkevänsä avaruusolentoja, pystyen ottamaan yhteyttä tuonpuoleiseen ja omaavansa yliluonnollisia parannustaitoja. Einarista ja Veikosta tuli tiimi, jolle koko maailmankaikkeus oli avoinna. Nyt, 25 vuotta myöhemmin, Einari kohtaa isänsä epäilyksillään. TFF

AA: The film director Einari Paakkanen's first person narrative of his journey to the past. In 1992 his life changed when his father Veikko experienced a spiritual awakening. He started to receive messages from outer space. He was able to see in the future and the past. He turned into a miracle healer. He learned automatic writing. He had encounters with UFOs. He acquired a sensitivity to cosmic energy fields. He had a way with energy stones. He learned to understand the power of chaga mushrooms to cure cancer.

The main story takes place in the present, but there is a lot of home movie footage with which we keep returning to the past.

The incredulous director keeps wondering how he could face his father with the fact that he himself does not believe in these things. His father has been a superhero, and now he turns into an ordinary man.

We learn also important background information. The director's grandfather was a war veteran who was psychically broken in the war and started to drink afterwards. In reaction to that Veikko decided on abstinence. His mission was also to save his father in the spirit world. It is important to praise a man in his lifetime. If one fails to do that, one can try to rectify things afterwards.

In 1992 Veikko's wife, the director's mother, was in Nicaragua during the earthquake and the tsunami and was barely saved. That may also have had an impact in Veikko's profound change. The mother herself says that she has always had her feet firmly on the ground while Veikko has had his head in the clouds. "We both help weak ones".

One inexplicable experience remains. Einari remembers one evening when father came home and seemed like dozens of years younger, as young as Einari himself. They were like brothers. There was a burning hot stove. Veikko put his hand on it, but there were no signs of burns when he took his hand off. Veikko was shocked and felt that evil spirits from another dimension had tried to get him.

Nevertheless, finally Einari finds the courage to tell Veikko that he does not believe. There is no breakdown, but the relationship between Einari and Veikko changes forever. Things become ordinary. Life goes on.

The Good Postman

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 5
T15 | 9.3. THU/TO 18:00 | PLEVNA 2 |
Language/kieli: Eng/Fin | Duration/kesto: 82 min

THE GOOD POSTMAN
HYVÄ POSTIMIES

Tonislav Hristov | Finland, Bulgaria 2016 | Documentary | 82 min
© 2016 Making Movies / Soul Food.

TFF: A small and dying Bulgarian village facing the Turkish border is preparing for mayoral elections. At nights asylum seekers sneak in causing fear and unrest. The Great Gate, as the village has been called for centuries, has become the loophole of Europe. Two men decide to challenge the indifferent sitting mayor and run for mayor. They have different agendas; one wants to turn the village back to life by welcoming refugees, another wants to close down the border and turn back time to communism. They both soon learn that while good intentions are not enough, even the smallest deeds matter.

Pieni ja kuoleva bulgarialainen kylä Turkin rajalla valmistautuu pormestarinvaaleihin. Öisin turvapaikanhakijat hiipivät kylään, mikä aiheuttaa pelkoa ja levottomuutta. Mahtavasta portista, kuten kylää on kutsuttu jo vuosisatojen ajan, on tullut porsaanreikä Eurooppaan. Kaksi miestä päättää haastaa välinpitämättömän pormestarin ja pyrkiä itse hänen paikalleen. Heidän agendansa eroavat toisistaan: toinen haluaa elävöittää kylän toivottamalla pakolaiset tervetulleeksi, toinen taas haluaa sulkea rajat ja palata takaisin kommunismin aikakauteen. Molemmat miehet oppivat pian, että vaikka hyvät aikeet eivät aina riitä, pienimmilläkin teoilla on merkitystä. TFF

AA: There is a confident sense of atmosphere in The Good Postman which takes place at "The Great Gate" to Europe, a sleepy village on the border between Turkey and Bulgaria, where Turkey extends into the European continent. The European migrant crisis began in 2015. The flood of refugees electrifies the village where a decision is imminent: to try to return to the past or to look ahead into the future.

The assured touch, the intensity in the account of everyday life, and the compelling tempo make this an engaging film. The Good Postman represents a new level of achievement from the director Tonislav Hristov from whom I have seen previously Sinkkuelämän säännöt and Love & Engineering.

While watching The Good Postman I was occasionally thinking about Zaza Urushadze's masterpiece Tangerines (2013) because of the pastoral tranquillity and the sense of a turbulence beneath. The juxtaposition of ordinary life and the vicinity of a great global disaster brings to mind Gianfranco Rosi's Fuocoammare.

The mise-en-scène in the scope format is often fine, as are the dynamics in the composition of light in certain memorable shots. The visual approach is clear and solid. There are ravishing shots of the landscape.

The questions emerging are big: are the refugees a threat or are they the future?

Towards the finale there is more and more alarming news about tragedies related to refugee smuggling. The good postman who has so far duly reported his sightings of refugees to the police now resolves not to do so.

The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes

Andrei Nekrasov the investigative journalist as the incredulous hero of his film The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes.

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 3

T31 | 9.3. THU/TO 10:00 | PLEVNA 5 | alk. / from 8 €

In English and Russian.

THE MAGNITSKY ACT – BEHIND THE SCENES
MAGNITSKIN LAKI – KULISSIEN TAKANA

Andrei Nekrasov | [TFF: Norway] [Norway / Finland / Denmark] 2016 | Documentary | 153 min
© 2016 Piraya Films AS / Illume Oy / Wingman Media APS
Theme song: "Замучен тяжелой неволей" (обр. Л. Шульгина - Г. Мачтет, 1876) / "Sait kärsiä puolesta aatteen" / "Slavery and Suffering" sung by the Red Army Choir.

TFF: What started as a drama about a Russian police plot to steal a billion dollars from a US financier and to murder his faithful tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, has become a real life investigation of contradicting versions of the crime. The Magnitsky Case is central for the policy of blacklisting bad guys from Putin’s Russia (“Magnitsky List”), which was then adopted by the West in retaliation for Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Shockingly for the film’s director, dissident and Putin basher Andrei Nekrasov, the official Western story turns out to have serious flaws.

Draama, joka alkoi venäläisten poliisien juonesta varastaa miljardi dollaria amerikkalaiselta sijoittajalta ja murhata hänen uskollinen veroasianajajansa Sergei Magnitski, muuttuu todelliseksi tutkimukseksi rikoksen ristiriitaisista tulkinnoista. Magnitskin tapaus on keskeinen linjaukselle laittaa Putinin Venäjän rikolliset mustalle listalle (”Magnistkin lista”), jonka länsimaat ottivat käyttöön kostona Venäjän toimille Ukrainassa. Elokuvan ohjaaja, toisinajattelija ja Putinin solvaaja Andrei Nekrasov tyrmistyy saadessaan selville, että lännen virallinen tarina sisältääkin vakavia puutteita. TFF

AA: A mix of documentary and fiction. Much of the first movement of the film is a fictional reconstruction executed in thriller mode with sex and violence and gory detail.

A volte-face happens in Andrei Nekrasov's film as stunning as in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The melodramatic mode of the first movement makes the peripeteia particularly shocking.

This film is famous for this fact that it starts as an illustration of the official story behind the Magnitsky Act but there is a U-turn in the investigation at about 45 minutes when Nekrasov starts to look into the documents in detail.

Sergei Magnitsky was lethally maltreated in Butyrka prison, but Nekrasov's investigation leads to the conclusion that William Browder and Sergei Magnitsky were the culprits to the massive fraud they claimed to have exposed.

I remain puzzled. Forged documents are ubiquitous in this story, and I choose to doubt everything.

Suomi radalla / Just Can't Stop

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 2

K17 | 8.3. WED/KE 22:00 | PLEVNA 2 | alk. / from 8 €

Language/kieli: Eng/Fin | Duration/kesto: 115 min

SUOMI RADALLA
JUST CAN’T STOP

Jay Kowski, Tiina Hiekkaranta | Finland 2017 | Documentary | 59 min

TFF: This documentary film is about Finnish graffiti culture. The film introduces Finnish graffiti bombers, writers and artists, illuminating their philosophy and ideology. The film presents graffiti phenomenon in Finnish society, it’s evolution from 80’s till today, from streets to museums and eventually towards to more civilized forms of art.

Dokumenttielokuva Suomi radalla on tarina suomalaisen katutaide- ja graffitikulttuurin kehityksestä kaduilta galleriaan. Elokuva esittelee tekijöiden ideologiaa, erilaisia näkemyksiä ja kohtaloita muuttuvassa yhteiskunnassa. TFF

AA: A lively history of the Finnish graffiti culture.

Told by the graffiti masters themselves with additional views of graffiti historians and graffiti-friendly politicians (Paavo Arhinmäki), gallerists (Umut Kiukas), and museum directors (Maija Tanninen of the Helsinki Art Museum). No enemies of graffiti are interviewed.

The basic dialectics is between legal vs. illegal. Many graffiti people see graffiti illegal in essence, and legal graffiti as a sell-out. Becoming a part of the establishment is seen as the death of graffiti by the hard core of the movement.

This is why many of the contributions are anonymous, and even the male director's name is a pseudonym. Voices are altered, and faces are disguised in the most ingenuous ways with masking, blurring, etc. Certainly it seems that the film-makers are very deep in the secret world of graffiti.

The danger, the excitement, and the risks are palpable. The main approach is the commando attack. Even paranoia belongs to the general graffiti experience.

The film covers the different waves in the society's attitudes to graffiti: from a generally benevolent start to zero tolerance and to the present more sophisticated attitude of tolerance within accepted limits.

This film about hip-hop culture is itself a part of it. It uses the vocabulary of hip-hop video with scratched images, video static, jarring edit, split screen, video effects, and animation.

There was just an indicated space for the missing final credits in the screener I viewed.

Salainen metsäni / My Secret Forest

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 2
K17 | 8.3. WED/KE 22:00 | PLEVNA 2 | alk. / from 8 €
Language/kieli: Eng/Fin | Duration/kesto: 115 min

SALAINEN METSÄNI
MY SECRET FOREST

Niina Brandt | Finland 2016 | Documentary | 56 min
English subtitles by Mikko Lyytikäinen.

TFF: For 20-year-old, mute and autistic Lauri, the only key to life is writing with the help of Pirjo, Lauri’s personal interpreter. It’s the only way for Lauri to express his thoughts. Despite all the challenges autism brings, Lauri’s greatest wish is to find love. He feels he will always be like an untamed bear, with a feeling, thoughtful man trapped inside. Even though Lauri fears he will have to yearn for love for the rest of his life, through his writing, the philosophical Lauri is able to reveal a beauty in life not everyone notices.

Puhekyvyttömän autistin Laurin, 20, ainoa avain koko elämään on Laurin henkilökohtaisen tulkin, Pirjon, avulla kirjoittaminen. Se on Laurin ainoa keino ilmaista todelliset ajatuksensa. Autismin tuomien haasteiden keskellä toiveista suurin on rakkaus, sillä Lauri tuntee olevansa kuin ikuisesti taltutettava karhu, joka on kuitenkin sisällään tunteva ja ajatteleva mies. Vaikka Lauri pelkää jäävänsä pelkän äärettömän rakkauden kaipuun varaan päiviensä loppuun saakka, pystyy filosofisia pohdintoja rakastava Lauri kirjoituksillaan avaamaan muille elämästä sellaisen kauneuden, jota eivät kaikki huomaa. TFF

AA: Starring the 20-year mute and autistic Lauri, this is a beautiful vision about the mystery of life. It is about another way of experiencing life. This is richly rewarding material for art and poetry.

The film is largely told in first person, as if written by Lauri. We see his hands moving on the keyboard but we never see characters written by him. Instead, we see and hear poetic sentences interpreted by his facilitator.

There is a debate whether such interpretations are authentic. In my opinion the interpretations are beautiful but there is nothing in this documentary to convince me that they are sentences by Lauri.

I was thinking about the Persona dilemma in Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece. When another person stays silent, the companion starts to imagine and construct thoughts for the other, interpreting any signs available.

Los retratos / Portraits

Tampere Film Festival
Avajaisnäytös
K15 | WED/KE 8.3. 18:00 | PLEVNA 2 | alk. / from 8 €

LOS RETRATOS
PORTRAITS
MUOTOKUVAT

Iván D. Gaoma | Colombia 2012 | Fiction | 14 min

TFF: It’s Sunday, the local market day, and Grandma Paulina wants to prepare creole hen to her husband for lunch, but the money is not enough. Without wishing it, she wins a Polaroid camera in a raffle, so, she proposes her husband to take pictures of their lives in the country. But the camera roll ends up, and the hunger persists.

On sunnuntai, paikallinen toripäivä, ja Paulina-mummu haluaa valmistaa miehelleen lounaaksi kreolikanaa, mutta raha ei riitä. Arvonnassa hän kuitenkin voittaa Polaroid-kameran, joten hän ehdottaa miehelleen, että he kuvaisivat elämäänsä maalla. Mutta kamerasta loppuu filmi ja nälkä on yhä jäljellä. TFF

AA: A wonderfully humoristic short story on the joy of portrait photography in a Colombian village. This film is also a tribute to the Polaroid camera. There is true talent in catching the warmth of life in human faces in Iván D. Gaoma's movie.

Art of Motion

Tampere Film Festival
Avajaisnäytös
K15 | WED/KE 8.3. 18:00 | PLEVNA 2 | alk. / from 8 €

ART OF MOTION
LIIKKEEN TAITO

Rhodri Williams | United Kingdom 2013 | Documentary | 5 min

TFF: A documentary exploring parkour. It looks at the deeper philosophical meaning behind the activity and its sense of community.

Dokumentti parkourista. Elokuva tarkastelee lajin taustalla olevaa syvempää filosofista merkitystä ja yhteisöllisyyttä. TFF

AA: An exhilarating short documentary on parkour and freerunning. Stunning scenes, sometimes even shot with a subjective camera.

Puheenvuoro / Taking the Floor

Puheenvuoro. The Tampere City Council. Chair: Sanna Marin.

Tampere Film Festival
Avajaisnäytös
K15 | WED/KE 8.3. 18:00 | PLEVNA 2 | alk. / from 8 €

PUHEENVUORO
TAKING THE FLOOR

Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen | Finland 2017 | Documentary | 9 min

TFF: On 7 November 2016, the Tampere City Council convenes to discuss the tram.

7.11.2016 Tampereen kaupunginvaltuusto kokoontuu keskustelemaan raitiotievaunusta. TFF

AA: Hannes Vartiainen and Pekka Veikkolainen are known as among the most imaginative masters of the Finnish short film. This time, in contrast to their previous films, they have no audacious special approach. Puheenvuoro is a straight record of the meetings of the Tampere City Council, focusing on the eternal debate on whether there should be a tram line in the city. The preparations started in 1908, and the first decision was made in 1914, but WWI interrupted the project at the time. [Since this debate was shot, the decision has been made, and the rail construction is taking place.]

There was a roar of laughter in the packed Plevna 2 in the opening screening of Tampere Film Festival as we followed samples from the eternal debate which the stern and brisk young chairwoman Sanna Marin did her best to keep within reason. We learned that Marin herself was present in the cinema.

Choke

Tampere Film Festival
Avajaisnäytös
K15 | WED/KE 8.3. 18:00 | PLEVNA 2

CHOKE
TUKAHTUA

Michelle Latimer | Canada [TFF: 2016] [IMDb: 2010] | Animation | 6 min

Song: "Dark Night of the Soul". Written by: Dangermouse & Sparklehorse (Mark Linkous). Featuring: David Lynch on vocals. EMI Music Publishing, 2010.

TFF: A young First Nation man leaves his northern home for the opportunities of the city. However, once there, he quickly realizes that the urban life is not what he’d imagined. In his quest for a better future, he meets a homeless man who sells art on the sidewalk. This encounter reminds him of the stark fate that befalls many First Nations people living within urban centres. As he wanders the streets of lost souls, he is reminded of all that he’s left behind. Inspired by the late, contemporary, First Nation’s artist Kyle Morrisseau, Choke uses stop-motion animation to explore themes of urban isolation and the individual search for identity within modern society.

Ensimmäisiin kansakuntiin kuuluva nuorimies lähtee kaupungin tarjoamien mahdollisuuksien perässä pohjoisesta kodistaan. Kaupungissa hän kuitenkin saa pian huomata, ettei urbaani elämä ole aivan sitä, mitä hän oli kuvitellut. Parempaa tulevaisuutta etsiessään hän tapaa kodittoman miehen, joka myy taidetta kadun poskessa. Tämä kohtaaminen muistuttaa häntä synkästä kohtalosta, joka lankeaa monien kaupungistuneiden ensimmäisten kansakuntien ihmisten osaksi. Nuoren miehen kuljeksiessa kadotettujen sielujen kaduilla, hän muistaa kaiken taakse jättämänsä. Choke on saanut inspiraationsa edesmenneestä ensimmäisten kansakuntien nykytaiteilijasta, Kyle Morrisseausta, ja se käyttää hyväkseen stop motion -animaatiota tutkaillessaan urbaanin eristyneisyyden ja henkilökohtaisen identiteetin etsinnän teemoja modernissa yhteiskunnassa. TFF

IMDb: When Jimmy leaves his reservation for the lures of city life, he finds himself confronted with a future he could never have imagined. Inspired by the contemporary art of First Nation's youth, Choke employs stop-motion animation to explore the themes of urban isolation and the search for identity within modern society.

Michelle Latimer webpage: Upon leaving his First Nations reserve, Jimmy encounters the lost souls of the city and is reminded that no matter how far you travel, you cannot escape who you are.

When Jimmy leaves his northern First Nations reservation to pursue a life in the city, he quickly realizes that urban life is not what he’d imagined. As he encounters the lost souls of the city, he is reminded of the power place. Inspired by the late, First Nation’s artist Kyle Morriseau, Choke uses stop-motion animation to explore themes of urban isolation and the individual search for identity within modern society.

Choke premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received a Special Jury Honorable Mention in Shortfilmmaking. The film was nominated for a 2011 Genie Award and named by Toronto Film Festival as one of Canada’s Top Ten films of 2011.

Festival Screenings (selected): Sundance, Rotterdam, Oberhausen, CFC Worldwide Shorts, Ann Arbor, Edinburgh Intl, ImagineNATIVE, Brief Encounters, Hollyshorts, New Hampshire Intl, Cannes Short Film Corner (online NFB/Canada showcase), Cyprus Intl.

Awards: Sundance Special Jury Honorable Mention in Shortfilmmaking, LA New Wave Honorable Mention, Toronto Intl Film Festival Canada’s Top Ten Selection, Houston Worldfest Remi Award, Genie Nomination – Animated Short. – Michelle Latimer webpage

AA: A visionary, compelling animation about the confrontation of First Nation people with urban modernity. On the soundtrack: David Lynch's haunting "Dark Night of the Soul"