Erkki Kurenniemi’s Computer Music (1966) is included in the program of Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, held from October 25–November 3, 2024 in Jihlava, Czech Republic.

The film is included in the section Fascinations: Computing Film, which explores the “forerunners” of artificial intelligence in filmmaking.

Kurenniemi’s film Computer Music (1966) stars two computers: Elliott 803 (in the Department of Nuclear Physics, the University of Helsinki) and IBM 1130 (in the computer centre at the University of Turku). At times, the coexistence of man and machine provokes suffocating frustration. This is only the starting point for something more subtle: the art created with computers. Kurenniemi’s original 16mm films were all silent, but in 2003 Mika Taanila and Kurenniemi added for this version the recorded composition The Dream of Sahara (1967). 

Erkki Kurenniemi (1941–2017) was a pioneer of Finnish electronic music. His projects and works anticipated in many ways the revolutionary impact of computers on both society and personal lives. Between 1964–70 Kurenniemi shot a number of short experimental 16mm films, part of which were later combined with his electronic music from the same era. In the short films, the futuristic fascination towards computers and electronics meets the sensuality of the organic details such as plants and insects. Some of Kurenniemi’s films are also exciting and unique documents about the 1960s underground youth having fun in Helsinki.

Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
October 25–November 3, 2024
Jihlava, Czech Republic

More information: Ji.hlava IDFF Fascinations: Computing Film

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. If you want to hear the latest news from our distribution, subscribe to our newsletter!