99 Years of My Life
Viitahuhta Marja
One fictional biography depicted from birth to death, based on the lives and memories of four women of different age. Each year in the film is reduced to three sentences, a list that runs from 0 to 99. This narration is illustrated as a variety of cinematographic styles and media: archive footage, home video, still photography, animation, film noir-styled scenes, and performance documentation. The film was awarded at Mediawave, Cannes Film Festival (Cinéfondation), L'Alternativa, and Stuttgarter Filmwinter and it is included in the collections of MoMA (New York) and Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Helsinki).
Production Year
2003
Duration
00:32:55
Tyyppi
Asiasana
age, animation, archival materials, documentarism, experimental films, families, fiction, growth, life, memories (mental objects), performance (art forms), personal narrative, portraits (works of art ), stories
Original Title
99 Years of My Life
Finnish Title
99 vuotta elämästäni
English Title
99 Years of My Life
Production Countries
Finland
Dialogue
Yes
Sound
Yes
Cast
Marja Viitahuhta (Author), Sini Liimatainen (Cinematographer), Marja Viitahuhta (Composer), Antti Tolvi (Composer), Jussi Vuola (Composer), Marja Viitahuhta (Director), Azar Saiyar (Editor), Marja Viitahuhta (Producer), Marja Viitahuhta (Script), Aapo Korkeaoja (Actor), Marja Viitahuhta (Actor), Irma Truhponen (Actor), Sakari Luhtala (Actor), Lars Wingård (Actor), Lahja Tuominen (Actor), Tuomo Truhponen (Actor), Topi Äikäs (Actor), Ronja Oksanen (Actor), Anja Saiyar (Actor), Maija Hirvanen (Actor), Sini Liimatainen (Actor), Essi Kausalainen (Actor), Sakari Luhtala (Animation), Veera Luhtala (Animation), Turun AMK:n Taideakatemia (Funder)
Press Photos
Marja Viitahuhta (formerly Mikkonen) is a Helsinki-based media artist and filmmaker. Her works range from films, performances and installations to photography and collage. She holds a BA degree in performance art from the Turku Polytechnic Arts Academy and an MFA degree from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. She has been awarded internationally at Cannes (Cinéfondation), Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Mediawave and L’Alternativa film festivals. Viitahuhta's recurring themes focus on perception and experience of female protagonists. Her works deconstruct individual identities, memories, or the idealised imagery of nations and landscapes. Her work often speaks in an intimate and personal tone and deals with existence and mortality. The text and image are set in a dialogue in Viitahuhta’s experimental language. Viitahuhta often bases her work on documentary filmmaking, archive material and found images as well as interviews.
21 works