AV-arkki presents an extensive retrospective of Pasi “Sleeping” Myllymäki at Reykjavik International Film Festival, held from 28.9.–8.10. The screening includes a total of 25 underground short films by Pasi “Sleeping” Myllymäki and Risto “Legenda” Laakkonen from the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The screening ends with the international premiere of Myllymäki’s new, autobiographical short film Otila Magic Blues (2017), previously screened in the domestic competition of Tampere Film Festival.
Myllymäki retrospective is part of the Reykjavik International Film Festival’s Finnish Focus, organised in collaboration with the Finnish Film Foundation. In addition, the showcase of Finnish short films includes Mika Taanila’s The World (2017) and Hannaleena Hauru’s The Ice Hockey Film by Heidi (2017).
The retrospective of Pasi “Sleeping” Myllymäki consists of the following films:
Myllymäki: Otila Magic Blues (2017)
There are three screenings of the retrospective, the first one on Sunday, October 1 at 20:00 and the following ones on Wednesday, October 4 at 21:15 and on Thursday, October 5 at 19:00.
Pasi “Sleeping” Myllymäki is a Finnish filmmaker known for his alternative short films in the punk and underground scenes. Myllymäki graduated as a graphic designer from the Lahti Institute of Fine Arts and Design in 1976. Inspired by the DIY mentality of punk, he began making his own Super 8 shorts with the amateur cinematographer Risto Laakkonen. Between 1976–85 they produced nearly 50 short films. Between 1979–82, Myllymäki published a fanzine called “Maanalainen kaitaelokuva” (Underground DIY Cinema). The published articles were frenzied rants against the conservative values of 8 mm enthusiasts and manifestos that heralded a “new wave culture”. Myllymäki’s underground short films have been screened e.g. at Image Forum Film Festival, Japan, and Venice Biennale 2017.
Hannaleena Hauru’s and Mika Taanila’s short films in the Finnish Focus
Hauru: The Ice Hockey Film by Heidi (2017)
The screenings of Finnish short films take place on Tuesday, October 3 at 19:00 and on Wednesday, October 4 at 20:00.
In The Ice Hockey Film by Heidi, Heidi’s fantasy about hockey player Lauri Mäntyvaara is continuously failing. The film studies the encounters of optical and haptic cinema, and the change in the power structures of the cinematic gaze.
Hannaleena Hauru has graduated from Tampere University of Applied Sciences, School of Art and Media in Finland in 2007 and from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2011. She was first acknowledged with her short film “If I Fall”, that was premiered in Festival de Cannes, International Critics’ week and got awarded in Tampere Film Festival, Oberhausen Short Film Festival and in Uppsala Short Film Festival. Previously she has studied theatre and drama research in Tampere University and worked in the field of theatre as a producer.
The World revisits 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.)
Mika Taanila is a filmmaker and visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. He works with documentaries, experimental film and visual arts. Human engineering, utopias, failures and man-machines are recurring themes in his films and installations. Taanila’s works have been shown at major international group shows, such as Venice Biennale (Nordic Pavilion 2017), Aichi Triennale (2013), dOCUMENTA (2012), Shanghai Biennale (2006), Berlin Biennale (2004), Manifesta (2002) and Istanbul Biennial (2001). Solo shows include the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki (2013–14), Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2013), TENT, Rotterdam (2013) and Galleria Heino, Helsinki (2010). Taanila’s short films have been screened altogether at more than 300 international film festivals and special events. In 2015, Taanila was awarded with the prestigious Ars Fennica Award, the biggest Finnish art award.
Reykjavik International Film Festival, 28.9.–8.10.2017, Iceland
More information: RIFF