
22nd IFF New Horizons will be held on July 21-31, 2022 in Wrocław, Poland. This year’s programme includes a focus on the global North, including moving image works by our artists.
Pasi Autio‘s Feel the Heat (2022, in featured image) and Marja Helander‘s Birds in the Earth (2018) are included in the group exhibition Sun Republic. Artistic Scene of the 22. IFF New Horizons, taking place in BWA Wrocław Galleries of Contemporary Art. The exhibition is open from July 22 to September 7 2022.
Feel the Heat depicts a one-man disco in a forest at night, and the atmosphere is magnificent – the lights are flashing, birds are singing, dancing continues and time disappears. The atmosphere in the forest reaches its height and starts declining freely and uncontrollably. The night cannot go on forever and, in the morning, the surrounding reality is revealed.
Birds in the Earth 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.
Elina Oikari‘s Govadas (2018) and Marja Viitahuhta‘s Flames (2021) are included in the screening White Nights – The Shorts, taking place on Tuesday, July 26, at 13:15, and on Thursday, July 28, at 13:15, as well as online.
Govadas explores the contradiction and harmony between humans and nature through Sámi poetry. The cyclical perception of time among the only indigenous people living in the European Union is presented in the work as unfolding forms and layers based on the archive material from the 1940’s and the super 8 mm film footage from 2010’s. Govadas creates a kinetic meditation on time, memory, landscape and the ruptures between them.
Flames is a video work with the yolk Dolat by Ánnámáret, from her album “Nieguid duovdagat”. In the video, embers and fire particles twirl in the air, transforming and dancing and swirling in the dark. The imagery has been layered with effects and animation to create an illusion of reality transforming into dreamlike, imaginary visions, brought about with the song and the hypnotism of looking at the fire. Fire is at the root of human culture, as a tool, but also as a place for social gatherings and storytelling. The yoik and the visual material of the video are based on its symbolism and power. However, as well as speaking about people’s bond with fire, this yoik is about lineage; of our temporal existence and belonging to a long line of our predecessors and our successors. The video, via its own means, visualises the yoik’s message.

International Film Festival New Horizons, July 21-31, 2022, Wrocław, Poland
More information: IFF New Horizons
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.