The Inland Sea

Viitahuhta Marja

Two stories of parenting and the fear of the drowning of one’s child based on real experiences. The juxtaposition of the stories reveals the many similarities in them, but at the same time the difference between the situations where these events happened. The first story describes how the daughter of a Finnish narrator was nearly drowned on a holiday trip to the beach. The second is based on the recollections of a Kurdish refugee of what it was like to cross the Mediterranean Sea on a smuggler boat with a small child, as the family fled Isis’s attacks and war in Iraq. The work describes the state one may experience after traumatic experiences, as well as survival, and the importance of both speaking and listening.

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Production Year
2017
Duration
00:14:00
Tyyppi
Single channel
Asiasana
coping, death, documentarism, families, listening, loss, parents, personal narrative, political art, refugeedom, seas
Original Title
Sisämeri
Finnish Title

Sisämeri

English Title

The Inland Sea

Production Countries
Finland
Dialogue
Yes
Sound
Yes
Cast
Marja Viitahuhta (Author), Sini Liimatainen (Cinematographer), Marja Viitahuhta (Cinematographer), Marja Viitahuhta (Director), Ville Vainio (Editor), Marja Viitahuhta (Script), Tuukka Haapakorpi (Sound Design), Noora Dadu (Actor), Zrian Hussein (Actor), Alfred Kordelinin säätiö (Funder), Taiteen edistämiskeskus (Funder), Suomen Kulttuurirahasto (Funder)
Press Photos

Marja Viitahuhta

Born: 1979

www.marjaviitahuhta.com

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

Bálvvosbáiki

Viitahuhta Marja
2023 / 00:07:07

On the other side

Viitahuhta Marja
2023 / 00:05:12 / Single channel

Shelter

Viitahuhta Marja
2023 / 00:03:18 / Single channel

Sieidi

Viitahuhta Marja
2023 / 00:03:50 / Installation

Ancient dreams

Viitahuhta Marja
2022 / 00:03:10 / Single channel

Moon

Viitahuhta Marja
2021 / 00:05:25 / Single channel

Flames

Viitahuhta Marja
2021 / 00:04:43 / Single channel

Dreamscapes

Viitahuhta Marja
2020 / 00:04:47 / Single channel

Women are fierce in resistance

Viitahuhta Marja
2020 / 00:05:33 / Single channel

Ask the Foremothers

Viitahuhta Marja
2019 / 00:04:01 / Single channel

Everything is temporary

Viitahuhta Marja
2020 / 00:05:45 / Single channel

Blossom

Viitahuhta Marja
2020 / 00:05:32 / Single channel

Predictions

Viitahuhta Marja
2017 / 00:28:09 / Single channel

Bremer's Nightmare

Viitahuhta Marja
2017 / Installation

The Inland Sea

Viitahuhta Marja
2017 / 00:14:00 / Single channel

Spinning Top

Viitahuhta Marja
2016 / 00:03:25 / Single channel

First There Is Nothing

Viitahuhta Marja
2016 / 00:03:00 / Single channel

Garden of Death

Viitahuhta Marja
2013 / 00:19:45 / Single channel

Rondo

Viitahuhta Marja
2006 / 00:08:20 / Single channel

99 Years of My Life

Viitahuhta Marja
2003 / 00:32:55 / Single channel

I Don't Remember This

Viitahuhta Marja
2012 / 00:11:17 / Single channel