AV-arkki’s member artists’ films have been selected for Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, taking place from October 24–29, 2023 in Jihlava, Czech Republic. Hanna Kaihlanen’s Hovering Over Us (2023) competes in the Short Joy competition on Thursday October 26 at 10:30pm in Kino DKO II. Jarkko Räsänen’s Supertelevision (2022) and Tuomas A. Laitinen’s Dossier of Tentacular (2018, in featured image) are screened in the thematic screenings titled Fascinations: AI at DIOD on Wednesday 25 at 7:30 and Saturday 28 at 5:30 respectively, while Timo Wright & Kohei Okada-Skogorev’s Fukushima – The Home That Once Was (2023) is a part of the festival’s VR Zone daily.
Dossier of Tentacular is a knotty and tragicomic organism that explores the techniques behind information production and dissemination, as well as ecological change and issues related to neoliberal language. The visual form of the work is reminiscent of a notebook whose pages become filled with pictures, diagrams and notes. The texts explore different ways to use language: one mode is like an expository lecture, while the other consists of poetic expressions created by an artificial intelligence that was whose source material is the collected works of Samuel Beckett. Based on keywords and triggers associated with the theme of the video, the algorithm generates absurd and laborious poetry. These elements combine in a chaotic way in the video, creating overlapping metafictive layers.
Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen’s current work and research focuses on the entanglements of human and non-human coexistence. Laitinen constructs situations and installations that are exploring the porous interconnectedness of language, body, and matter within morphing ecosystems.
Supertelevision is an AI-animated dreamlike journey from the insides of a TV screen to the end credits.
Jarkko Räsänen (b. 1984) is multimedia artist focusing on photography, moving image and sound art. He has made video art since 2005, starting with documentations of performative actions. More recently, he has moved towards computer based and algorithmic visual works, including live vj performances with self-made softwares. He is a member of moving image cooperative FixC. Räsänen’s moving image works have been presented in various gallery exhibitions mostly in Finland and Germany, as well as at International Telext Festival goes Ars Electronica, Anthology Archives New York, Papay Gyro Festival Hong Kong & Orkney and Fundacio Joan Miro, Mallorca.
Very small beings are often behind major events on the planet. Hovering over us observes mosquitoes, the tiny creatures that float around us. The hybrid film dives into a reality where the smallest creatures have become unpredictably significant. Past, present and the imaginative overlap and create strange visions, where uncanny details start to resemble prophecies and a human becomes a tiny piece of the big buzzing puzzle.
Hanna Kaihlanen (b. 1990) is a film director, editor and screenwriter. In her editing-driven practice Kaihlanen is often studying the complex relationships between human, nature, and technology. She navigates between the conventions of fiction, documentary, and experimental film. In her work she combines raw found footage with poetic imagery, usually addressing large, global issues from an unusual perspective. Her work has been screened and awarded in various local and international film festivals, galleries, and interdisciplinary events.
Meet the former residents of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident’s Exclusion Zone, who share their experiences of the loss of home, importance of community, and the fragility of memories. In Fukushima – The Home That Once Was the viewer may walk freely in the 3D-captures of former homes and gardens and create their own version of the film. Fukushima – The Home That Once Was is also included in the programme of Beyond the Frame Festival, held in Tokyo from October 27–29 2023.
Timo Wright is a media artist based in Helsinki, Finland. Wright has graduated with MA degree from the Aalto University School of Art and Design in Helsinki in 2014. He has participated in domestic and international exhibitions since the mid 2000s including Kunsthall Charlottenborg (2017 & 2018), Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie (2017), Galerie Anhava (2016), Helsinki Art Museum (2013), Helsinki Design Museum (2012), Amos Anderson Art Museum (2012), Kunsthalle Helsinki (2012, 2010, 2009) and Helsinki Art Museum’s Kluuvi Gallery (2012), as well as festivals such as IDFA, Slamdance, Nordisk Panorama, International Film Festival Rotterdam and Japan Media Arts Festival. His films have been shown at over 70 festivals and exhibitions worldwide.
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, October 24–29, 2023, Jihlava, Czech Republic
More information: Ji.hlava IDFF
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!