
Tampere Film Festival presents a three-part retrospective and a masterclass by Sami Sänpäkkilä. AV-arkki’s this year’s collaborative screenings delve into rituals, both social and magical. AV-arkki also contributes to the festival’s industry programme with a panel discussion on short film distribution beyond festivals. Short films by five AV-arkki’s artists were selected for the competition programmes of the festival. There are also other short films by our artists in the thematic screenings. Tampere Film Festival will be held from March 9-13 2022.
Rituals as instruments for continuity and transformation

Rituals are an integral part of religion and magic: in them the sacred or the supernatural is combined with repetition and an established performance. On the other hand, social hierarchy and political power are also upheld by the use of rituals. Rituals demand and embrace continuity, but with their help conditions and states can be changed. The two-part AV-arkki screening examines both worldly and magical rituals.
The first screening stays in our earthly world of perception. In How to Do Things with Words (A Legal Performance) (2022), Bita Razavi studies the rituals of tying the knot, while Niina Suominen discusses dealing with divorce in Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (2015). Benjamin Orlow delves into the rituals of masculine culture in the form of academic choir singing in A Spring Bright Evening (2020), and Aarno Salosmaa’s Air (2004) studies motorcycle rallies. Rituals can also destroy. In S E O M / I W N M (2019), Maria Valkeavuolle makes new paper out of distressing documents, and Nastja Säde Rönkkö’s how to sking a polar bear (2019) presents the skinning of a polar bear step by step.
The second screening is dedicated to supernatural and new age rituals. The opening film is Timo Vaittinen’s video spell Hexual Spellings (2015) that plays with vaporwave aesthetics. Juhani Koivumäki’s film The Apostle (2015) returns to the miraculous birth of one sacrament. Anna-Mari Nousiainen’s Your Eyes Made Me Do It (2017) and Anssi Kasitonni’s Finnish Midsummer 2169 (2015) rely on love spells. In Suodji (Shelter, 2020) Marja Helander recounts a family story about her ancestor who cheated plague as well as death. Elena Näsänen’s film Travel Exercises (2022) seeks to cross the sea with the help of visualisation. Jade Kallio and Remi Vesala outline the rituals of post-humanistic love in Magma (2020). The screening ends with Anneli Nygren‘s alter ego Jonne59’s exorcist music video Seven Demons (2020).
- Thu March 10 12:00 Cine Atlas 3
- Sat March 12 11:30 Cine Atlas 3
- Fri March 11 17:45 Cine Atlas 4
- Sat March 12 18:15 Cine Atlas 4

Industry panel: Short film distribution beyond festivals
AV-arkki is hosting a panel discussion “Short film distribution beyond festivals” in the industry programme of Tampere Film Festival on Friday, March 11 at 11:00. What are the paths and options for short film distribution in the rapidly changing market? What steps should a short filmmaker take after securing a major festival premiere? How to find the right partners?
The panel discussion takes place in the festival centre at Finlayson with Inka Achté (Raina Film Festival Distribution), Pia Andell (Of Course My Films), Ulla Simonen (AVEK), and Otto Suuronen (Finnish Film Foundation) as speakers. The discussion is moderated by Tytti Rantanen, a programme coordinator at AV-arkki – The Centre of Finnish Media Art.
Sami Sänpäkkilä in Focus

Tampere Film Festival presents a three-part retrospective programme and a masterclass by Sami Sänpäkkilä.
The audiovisual world of Sami Sänpäkkilä is sincere, delicate, humane and humorous. Sänpäkkilä graduated in fine art in Tampere, and his body of work from the 1990s to present day includes experimental short films and short documentaries, as well as music videos for the bands Death Hawks and Risto, among others. His DIY signature is also visible in his feature-length works, such as the documentary The Goodiepal Equation (2017) and the film Samurai Rauni (2016). Retro and futurism are intertwined in his visual aesthetics, in which smooth softness and seedy ruggedness are glued tightly together. The undertone in the works varies from serious to tragic, comical to tragicomical. No narrative form is more noble than others.
Filtered by Sänpäkkilä’s lens, the scales change and turn upside down – small details take the lead. Unexpectedness and absurdity are present, sometimes visibly, sometimes more subtly. The works are lathered with magic realism. At their most extreme, the works dive directly into the dream world and the psychedelic deep end of occultism. When not at the gates of mystery, we explore the unhinged everyday life. Thematically, the mysteries of life and death are observed from various angles, and Sänpäkkilä doesn’t shy away from descriptions of decadence and violence on either individual or societal level. The productions strongly echo the spirit and influence of Jodorowsky, Herzog, Korine and Kummeli. From those, Sänpäkkilä concocts the brew that is his own signature genre. (Elissa Määttänen)
- Wed March 9 18:15 Cine Atlas 4
- Thu March 10 16:15 Cine Atlas 4
- Thu March 10 20:15 Cine Atlas 4
- Sat March 12 22:00 Cine Atlas 3
- Fri March 11 19:45 Cine Atlas 4
- Sun March 13 12:15 Cine Atlas 4
Sami Sänpäkkilä Masterclass: DIY Film Making Sat March 12.3 15.00 – 17.00
Short films by AV-arkki’s artists in the competitions

This year, short films by five AV-arkki’s artists were selected for national competition. Anssi Kasitonni’s Le Saboteur was also selected for the international competition.
National competition 9: Sevgi Eker: 7 p.m. on Sunday (2021) & Elena Näsänen: Turbulent Waters (2022)
- Thu March 10 13:45 Cine Atlas 2
- Sat March 12 14:45 Cine Atlas 2
National competition 10: Lauri Astala: Sketch for the Last Map (2022) & Anssi Kasitonni: Le Saboteur (2022)
- Fri March 11 12:15 Cine Atlas 2
- Sat March 12 17:15 Cine Atlas 2
National competition 11: Risto-Pekka Blom: Human Torch (2022)
- Fri March 11 14:45 Cine Atlas 2
- Sat March 12 19:45 Cine Atlas 2
International competition 4: Anssi Kasitonni: Le Saboteur
- Thu March 10 13:30 Cine Atlas 1
- Fri March 11 18:30 Cine Atlas 3
Short films by AV-arkki’s artists in other screenings

One of the main themes of this year’s Tampere Film Festival is Urban Scenes. The screening Urban Scenes 2: Spaces includes Risto-Pekka Blom’s Please Leave a Message After the Tone (2021) and Taija Goldblatt’s Hidden (2020). The screening takes place in Cine Atlas 3 on Thursday, March 10 at 14:00 and Saturday, March 12 at 13:00. Iona Roisin’s Muistatko (A Method) (2019) is included in the Video Art Festival Turku’s screening “What the VAFT?” on Saturday, March 12 at 14:15 in Cine Atlas 4 and on Sunday, March 13 at 16:00 in Cine Atlas 3.
Tampere Film Festival, March 9.-13. 2022, Tampere, Finland
Lisätietoa: Tampere Film Festival
Featured image: Sami Sänpäkkilä: Psychedelic Alphabet for the Newborn (2013)
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.