
Jan Ijäs’s On the Art of the Set Design (2018), Pilvi Takala’s The Stroker (2019), and Elli Vuorinen’s Still Lives (2019) will be screened at Cairo Video Festival, held from September 9–30.
Jan Ijäs’s On the Art of the Set Design will be screened in the programme “Crushing Hammers“, on Saturday, September 14, in Zawya Cinema. “Can the set take it?” is a question that often gets asked on film shoots. When you adjust a camera position, change a lens or introduce a new panning shot, the orientation and scope of the images you capture change. As a result, you then risk showing a stretch of soundstage wall or even an unwanted glimpse of location. This film is based on North Korea’s former leader Kim Jong Il’s (1942–2011) film-making treatise On the Art of Cinema, with a particular focus on the chapter titled The Sets Should Reflect the Times, passages of which are read out by the narrator. All images were shot on location in North Korea during a guided tour. These guided visits are highly managed, with all filming and recording activity carefully controlled by the hosts. Everything you see is reminiscent of a theatre or film set.
Pilvi Takala’s The Stroker is included in the screening “Germination“, taking place on Saturday, September 21, in Zawya Cinema. The Stroker is based on Takala’s two week-long intervention at Second Home, a trendy East London coworking space for young entrepreneurs and startups. During the intervention Takala posed as a wellness consultant named Nina Nieminen, the founder of cutting-edge company Personnel Touch who were allegedly employed by Second Home to provide touching services in the workplace.
Elli Vuorinen’s Still Lives will be screened in the programme “The Function of Storytelling“, on Monday, September 16, in Cimatheque. The concept of busy stillness is explored from various standpoints as museum artefacts from all around the world reflect on the mundane challenges of modern life.
Cairo Video Festival, September 9–30 2019, Egypt
More information: Cairo Video Festival