Mika Taanila’s The World (2017) and Henna-Riikka Halonen’s Placeholder (2017) are screened at the 36th Uppsala International Short Film Festival, held from October 23–29.
The World is selected in the international competition programme “Eye Know“. The screenings take place on Tuesday, October 24 at 13:00, Thursday, October 26 at 17:00 and Saturday, October 28 at 15:00.
The World (2017) premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam and has been previously screened e.g. at CPH:DOX, Flatpack Festival, Split Film Festival, and Nordisk Panorama.
The images of The World 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.)
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).
Taanila: The World (2017)
Henna-Riikka Halonen’s Placeholder will have its world festival premiere at Uppsala International Short Film Festival in the special programme Science Friction: Artyficial Intelligence. The screenings of the programme take place on Thursday, October 26 at 19:00 and on Saturday, October 28 at 15:00.
Placeholder comments on a thought experiment where virtual non-living material ( i.e. objects) transform into self-aware beings capable of imitating humane action, telling stories, seducing. Placeholder imagines the moment when AI comes of age. Multiple tabs, and proliferating windows give Placeholder a desktop’s point-of-view as it explores developments in biogenetics, 3D printing of skin and organs and new research into historical models of AI, such as Eliza and the Turing test. In Halonen’s kaleidoscopic new work, created entirely from found footage, open source and animated imagery, a lack of empathy from other human beings has made us to seek comfort from the voice and touch of the machines.
Henna-Riikka Halonen lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. She graduated with BA from Limerick School of Art and Design, Ireland in 2002 and with MFA from Goldsmiths College in London in 2006. She is currently undertaking doctoral studies in the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. Her work has been seen in various exhibitions, biennales and festivals worldwide, such as Sydney Biennale 2014, Eyebeam in New York (2013), Gallery Factory in Seoul, Korea (2012), Transmediale 2012 in Berlin, Berwick Gymnasium Gallery in the UK (2010), Collective Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland (2009) and International Incheon Women Artstis’ Biennale in Korea (2007).
The 36th Uppsala International Short Film Festival, 23.–29.10.2017, Uppsala, Sweden
More information: Uppsala ISFF