Marja Helander’s Birds in the Earth (2018) is screened at Equilibrio Festival 2019, entitled “Northen Lights in Rome” dedicated to north-European countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) is the crowning event of a three-year project celebrating European contemporary dance and ballet. The festival is held from February 10–26 in Auditorium Parco della Musica. Birds in the Earth will be screened on Sunday, February 17, at 15:00.

Birds in the Earth is a short film based on dance. The main characters are two young Sámi ballet students; Birit and Katja Haarla. The movie tells a bit melancholic story through their dance performances. At the same time it examines the deeper questions of the ownership of Sámi land.

Marja Helander (b.1965) is a Finnish photographic and video artist. She graduated from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in 1999. Her earlier work explored her own identity between the Finnish and the Sámi culture. Helander’s recent photographic work has focused on Northern landscape. The accent of the work is on the postcolonial topics in the Sámi area, focusing particularly on the global mining industry. The encounter between nature and mankind is not harmonious, but destructive. On the other hand, her video works are playful, exploring the contradiction between the traditional Sámi way of life and the modern society. Her recent short film Birds in the Earth won the Risto Jarva Prize in Tampere Film Festival 2018. Marja Helander has participated in solo and group exhibitions and her works have been acquired for various public collections in Finland and abroad.

Equilibrio Festival, February 10–26 2019, Rome, Italy

More information: Equilibrio Festival 

AV-ARKKI HAS PROMOTED AND DISTRIBUTED FINNISH MEDIA ART SINCE 1989. AV-ARKKI’S PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS HAVE MADE THE ARTISTS’ PARTICIPATION IN THIS EVENT POSSIBLE.