The Other Side of Mars

Minna Långström

Vandi Verma has an exceptional understanding of the Martian landscape because of her work as a NASA Mars mission rover driver and roboticist. Her work of operating the rover in the Martian terrain relies to a large part on images and the technological use of them. Shot at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and neighboring observatories, the film creates a philosophical journey into the peculiar world of Martian photography. Through the lenses of various scientists and engineers, we learn how NASAs’ images are made, used and manipulated for the sake of science, but also public information. Mars is the ideal place for an investigation into our paradoxical relationship to photography. Do images reflect reality or shape it?

Production Year
2019
Duration
00:56:00
Type
Tags
Original Title
Mars kuvien takaa
English Title

The Other Side of Mars

Production Countries
Finland
Dialogue
Yes
Sound
Yes
Cast
Minna Långström (Author), Päivi Kettunen (Cinematographer), Mira Calix (Composer), Minna Långström (Director), Minna Långström (Editor), Minna Långström (Script), Pelle Venetjoki (Sound Design), Yleisradio Oy (Funder), Suomen elokuvasäätiö (Funder), AVEK (Funder), Koneen säätiö (Funder), Liisa Karpo (Producer), Napafilms Oy (Production Company)
Press Photos
Långström is a media artist and filmmaker. Her artistic work consists of films – short fiction and documentary – as well as cinematic installations, combining moving images with spatial elements. Her work processes tend to be extensive, well researched and interdisciplinary. Her work focuses on social perspectives on technologically mediated narratives and visual technologies, as well as certain political histories and their cinematic influences on the present. The intuitive experience and role of the viewer is a central aspect of her installations.