Short films from Finland at Nordic Nights

A selection of Finnish shorts and animated at Nordic Nights along with a short documentary about life in the breathtakingly beautiful Finnish archipelago.

30.3.2021

7 pm

online

Film

The screening takes off at a Red Carpet, which is a short that introduced a festival by the same name in Hyvinkää Finland in 2018.  At the Red Carpet festival of Finnish cinema audience is king and enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of mingling with the actors and filmmakers close up.

Three Turku Arts Academy student animated shorts give a glimpse to what talented newcomers have on offer starting with HALOO, an ethereal trip by three friends, brought on by some mushroom tea. 

Self-discovery and how to face the world is the theme of Rise and Shine by Katariina Haukka and Iiris Korjus.  In it a faceless girl finds her identity after a trip to another reality. You can sample Katariina Haukka’s works in her animation reel(Link to another website.).

LABJOB is a quirky stop-motion-animation of a scientist experimenting on creating life and the attendant hazards of doing so.

A Turku Arts Academy alumna Elli Vuorinen(Link to another website.) returns to Nordic Nights with her animation Sore Eyes for Infinity(Link to another website.) about an optician who becomes aware of how by providing her services she become indirectly complicit in flawed actions of others.

Still from Are You Hungry?
Are You Hungry?​​​

In Are you Hungry?(Link to another website.) by Teemu Niukkanen(Link to another website.), an overprotective single mother tries to connect with her adoptive teenage son in a comedy that does not take itself seriously.  The awkward struggle to have a real talk together is more than made up with other ways of caring. Awarded the Finnish national film award, Jussi, for best short film and best short film at the Tampere International Film Festival with several nominations for best short film including TIFF and Sundance.

Still from The Stick
The Stick
 

A contest of wills fulfils a young girl’s wish for a dog in the award-winning The(Link to another website.) Stick(Link to another website.) (Keppi), where her father makes a deal with an unexpectedly determined child, but there may be more than one winner.  Director Teppo Airaksinen has a sharp eye for human nature and family dynamics. He is also a versatile filmmaker with a long career in TV, shorts and feature films. 

 

 

 

 

Café Helsinki, directed by Anni Puolakka(Link to another website.) is an animated short where a cow and a jester meet in a café to have a meandering coffee shop conversation. 

Still from Cafe Helsinki
Café Helsinki
Still from Ask the Foremothers
Still from Ask the Foremothers

 

 

Sámi musician Ánnámáret's music video Jearrat máttaráhkus -(Link to another website.) Ask the Foremothers directed by Marja Viitahuhta (Link to another website.) inserts historical images to contemporary landscape of Lapland to evoke the traditions not lost but changed reflecting on impact of nature on Sámi culture. 

 

 

 

 

Still from Bird's Eye View In Bird’s-eye View(Link to another website.)/Lintuperspektiivi filmaker Hanna Arvela(Link to another website.) has people in mundane jobs repeat actual artist interview responses word for word.  The result is a thought provoking multilayered point of view.   

Fishing with Gunnar (Link to another website.) (Fiske med Gunnar), a documentary by Iina Terho(Link to another website.), is set in the Finnish archipelago(Link to another website.) at its southernmost inhabited area in the Baltic Sea near Turku.  Mother Nature provides a stunning backdrop to the snapshot of life in the archipelago.   Gunnar, an 85-year-old retired fisherman and lighthouse keeper is a life-long islander and a gracious guide.  He takes Iina fishing for Baltic Herring for a glimpse of an industry that has slowed to a trickle.

 

Still from Fishing with Gunnar
Fishing with Gunnar

The programme is preceeded by a short film Shadows by Kassy Gascho(Link to another website.) filmed in Finland during the Finland Workshop of2019, The Chang School, SCHOOL OF IMAGE ARTS(Link to another website.)

Admission is free, registration required(Link to another website.)