Mika Taanila’s Failed Emptiness. Time (2021) and other films are screened at various film festivals around Europe.
Failed Emptiness. Time is screened at the moment at DocLisboa, in the “New Visions” strand. The festival is held on-site and online from October 21–31 2021. On Friday, October 29, the film will be screened at VINDÖGA Festival, held in Sandviken, Sweden. In early November, Failed Emptiness. Time will be screened at Message to Man International Film Festival, “In Silico” competition, and at Cork International Film Festival, in “Free Radicals” programme.
Ekko Festival in Bergen, Norway, is screening a mini retrospective of Taanila’s films on Sunday, October 24 2021. The screening “Collapsing Worlds” includes A Physical Ring (2002), Optical Sound (2005), Future Is Not What It Used to Be (2002), and The World (2017). The four films in the program discuss the dynamic intercation between man and technology. We see failing brave new worlds, fragile machines and shaking earths, accompanied by soothing electronic music. The program is dedicated to Erkki Kurenniemi (1941–2017).
Mika Taanila (s. 1965) 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.
DocLisboa, October 21–31 2021, Portugal
EKKO Festival, October 22–31 2021, Bergen, Norway
Vindöga Festival, October 28–30 2021, Sandviken, Sweden
XXXI Message to Man Film Festival, October 29 – November 4 2021, St. Petersburg, Russia
The 19th International Cork Film Festival, November 4–14 2021, Ireland