
Short films by Lauri Astala, Marja Helander, Mika Taanila, and Salla Tykkä are included in a rooftop screening of Finnish short films in Point Éphémère, Paris. The showcase is curated and presented by Clément Beraud and organized by Format Court. “Les séances au top #6 X Format Court” take place on Thursday, July 26, and on Friday, July 27, at 22:00.
In Lauri Astala‘s Transit (2014, in featured image) documentary shots of New York are altered by camera movements, angles and framing. This builds up a new fictive urban space, whose visual familiarity stems from the history of film. The theme of Transit revolves around the collective visual ideas and notions of the urban environment.
Marja Helander‘s Birds in the Earth (2018) 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.
The images of Mika Taanila‘s The World (2017) consist of The Man Who Fell to Earth (dir. Nicolas Roeg 1976) evacuated and flipped. In abandoned landscapes, animals, furniture and empty vehicles are left awaiting for disaster. ”We must have died alone, a long long time ago.” (D.B.)
In Salla Tykkä‘s Zoo (2006), a woman photographs zoo cages. The animals stare back, following her with their eyes. The voyeur and the object change places. The woman plunges into deep water where a game of violent underwater rugby is taking place. She returns to the surface to breathe, but the stares and the camera’s viewfinder block her escape route. In desperation, she makes an extreme decision.
Les séances au top #6 X Format Court, 26.–27.7.2018, Point Éphémère, Paris
More information: Point Éphémère