Festival Tous Courts, held from November 30 to December 4 2021 in Aix-en-Provence, France, proved to be successful. Jussi Eerola’s Blue Honda Civic (2020) was awarded with the Grand Prix of the experimental competition, and Maija Tammi’s The Problem of the Hydra (2020) received a Special Mention in the same competition series.
The romantic landscape paintings often portrayed weather condition, topography of national landscape, religious themes, spirituality of nature and hunting scenes. Blue Honda Civic is a minimalistic road movie mirroring the emotions of the driver through the landscapes (s)he has chosen to look at.
Finnish filmmaker and cinematographer Jussi Eerola (1969) has worked as director of photography on many international award-winning films from prominent Finnish directors and artists. His directorial debut was in 2009 with Refugees of Technocracy, a documentary about electro-hypersensitive people. Return of the Atom (2015) received the Best Nordic Film prize at CPH:DOX and it was co-directed with Mika Taanila, one of the people with whom Eerola founded Elokuvayhtiö Testifilmi, a Finnish film production company. Blue Honda Civic is his directorial short film debut.
The Problem of the Hydra is an experimental documentary film about the practical and metaphysical problems a small fresh-water polyp, known as Hydra, has caused since the 1700s to the present day. Contrary to most animals, Hydra vulgaris does not age – at all.
Maija Tammi (b. 1985) is a Finnish artist and Doctor of Arts, whose photographs, videos, and installations examine the borders of disgust and fascination, science and art. Tammi’s work has been exhibited in Paris, Berlin, Rome, London, New York and Tokyo, and she has four published books. Tammi currently holds the honorary title Artist Professor and a grant for 2020–2024.
Festival Tous Courts, November 30 – December 4 2021, Aix-en-Provence, France
More information: Festival Tous Courts