Short films by Jan Ijäs, Maija Blåfield and Risto-Pekka Blom screened at Nordic Film Days Lübeck

Jan Ijäs’s House of the Wickedest Man in the World (2023, in featured image), Maija Blåfield’s Scenic View (2023) and Risto-Pekka Blom’s Oh no, Lasse Falls! (2023) are screened at Nordic Film Days Lübeck, taking place from November 1–5, 2023. The films are a part of the Short Film Programme 3, titled Real Fake Truths on Wednesday November 1 at 10:15pm in Stadthalle Cinema 1 and Saturday November 4 at 10:30pm in Kino Koki.

House of the Wickedest Man in the World is the story of a ruined building near the city of Cefalú in Sicily. In the early 1920s, Aleister Crowley, the most famous occultist of his time, lived in the building, practicing magical rituals, and using hard drugs to heighten their intensity. Crowley also painted frescoes on the rituals of the Abbey of Thelema in his temple in the style of Paul Gauguin, whom he admired. Nowadays, the building is deserted and is located next to the city’s football stadium. The building has been allowed to disrepair because it is still believed that “evil forces” stayed in it.

Media artist and film director Jan Ijäs (b. 1975) studied documentary film making at the Department of Film, Television and Scenography at the Aalto University in Helsinki. His work can be described as a blend of avant garde, experimental media art and documentary film making. His films have been screened at more than 200 Finnish and international film festivals and as installations in museums and art galleries.

Maija Blåfield: Scenic View (2023)

Finland has the most forest in Europe, but primeval forest has become so rare that it feels fictional. Is it now the enchanted forest? Is a commercial forest real? As nature documentaries are staged, are they fiction? Scenic View is a film about how we look at a forest landscape and the reality.

Maija Blåfield (b. 1973) is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist and film director. Her cinematic works navigate the grounds between experimental film and documentary film. In addition, Blåfield also works with photography and writing, among other media. Blåfield’s works typically address the ambiguity of reality, experiencing our everyday life differently, and the human relationship with the environment. Her works have been presented in Finland and internationally, in art museums and galleries, as well as at film festivals and on television. Blåfield was awarded the Finnish state award for media art in 2014 and was nominated for the prestigious Ars Fennica award in 2017.

Risto-Pekka Blom graduated from technical education but never felt motivated to pursue a career as technician. For a few years he was looking for his purpose in life, until in the age of 27 he started a short course of Audiovisual Media and Expression, after which he graduated from Tampere Polytechnic School of Art and Media in 2005. Since then Blom’s video art and experimental short films have been exhibited in festivals and events in over twenty countries. His film Theme Park (2015) has won the Main Prize at Tampere Film Festival and Helsinki Short Film Festival in 2015.


Nordic Film Days Lübeck, November 1–5, 2023, Lübeck, Germany

More information: Nordic Film Days Lübeck


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!