SPECIAL SCREENING FINNISH ANIMATIONS

Finland, restrained and serene, has got a not too much antique history in the animation world, but since it started, in the lately 40’s, it has been able to keep an enviable production. Beyond the regular production of authorship films, Finland also produces a wide number of excellent films for children. Both the quantity and the quality of the feature animation films produced in the country are surprising, most of them being awarded at festivals all over the world.

This program has the support of the prestigious Tampere Film Festival, which will celebrate 40 years of existence in 2010, and is considered the oldest film festival of the north of Europe.

TANGO FINLANDIA // TANGO FINLANDIA // 2006 // 6 min
Diretores // Directors: Hannu Lajunen, Tomi Riionheimo
A testosterone- lled animated musical about Finnish men. Ugh.


POLLE //HORSIE // 2006 // 2 min
Diretor, Roteiro, Animação, Música , Edição , Som, Director, Script, Animation, Music
How to survive as a horsie?


JATKOAIKA // OVERTIME // 2007 // 10 min
Diretor/ /Director: Tatu Pohjavirta, Mark Ståhle
A girl dies in a skating accident. Her parents make a deal


YÖVUORO // NIGHTSHIFT //2004 // 7 min
Diretores //Directors: Sara Wahl, Samppa Kukkonen, Simo Koivunen
A bird and a bat are living in the same tree as neighbours. Their different ways of living create tension and anger.


SYNTYMÄPÄIVÄ // THE BIRTHDAY // 2004 // 16 min
Diretor //Director: Kari Juusonen
Father and Son are living in a small cottage having no contact with each other and repeating everyday chores mechanically. A stubborn cow mixes up Son’s work routine at the slaughterhouse and eventually forces Father and Son to reveal new side of themselves.


ANIMAL // ELUKKA // 2005 // 29 min
Diretor // Director: Tatu Pohjavirta
A single-dad is transforming into a werewolf. Meanwhile, his young son ends up in an accident, and his brain is interchanged with a sheep’s.


KUOLEMA KELTAISESSA TALOSSA // DEATH IN THE YELLOW HOUSE
// 2008 //5 min
Diretor // Director: Anna Virtanen
Sometimes you have to leave, even if you don’t know what lies ahead. Death in the Yellow House is a film about taking chances, facing issues, listening to your instincts and questioning them


VIIMEINEN ELEFANTTI // THE LAST ELEPHANT // 2008 // 9 min
Diretor // Director: Antti Laakso
Elephant boy is living a happy childhood in a skyscraper with his crocodile dad, but something is horribly amiss.

Devotion to Animation

This year, Tampere Film Festival plunges deep into the world of animation. The animation marathon starts with a Ngo Mahn Lan retrospective, the oldest film dating back to 1965. The retrospective touches upon a variety of themes from ancient warrior myths strengthening national unity to everyday phenomena in domestic environments. The gem of the screening is the epic The Legend of Giong Hero (1971) that was awarded the Golden Dove in Leipzig in 1971 and the Golden Lotus in Vietnam in 1973.

Finland's neighbouring country Sweden is contributing to the festival programme with a worldwide rarity: a collection of Captain Grogg animations from 1916–1922 by Victor Bergdahl. The screening includes Captain Grogg and Kalle at the Darkies Ball (1917), a film banned in Finland in 1917, and Bergdahl's first film The Demon Drink (1915) that serves as a prelude to the medley of Grogg animations.

More recent animation is served in the Finnish premiere of Idiots and Angels (2008) by the American Bill Plympton. In this film tinged with black humour, the protagonist Angel wakes up one day with a mysterious pair of wings on his back and has to perform good deeds contrary to his nature. The screening opens with a short film Hot Dog (2008) featuring a tragicomical hero familiar from Plympton's earlier dog animations.

Pavel Koutský retrospective offers skillful metamorphoses from one form into another as well as storytelling on different levels and using different techniques. Koutskýs fiery dozen includes, for example, the film Curriculum vitae (1986) that won the Golden Bear in Berlin and the best animation award in the international competition at Tampere Film Festival in 1987. The maestro of Czech animation combines enthusiastic intelligence and cutting humour in his works which also reflect the social criticism typical of Eastern European animation.

The Festival programme also boasts a wide range of Brazilian contemporary animation. Brazilian UG offers a cross section of Brazilian animation representing a variety of themes and techniques. The latter screening also features Tyger (2002) by Guilherme Marcondes, a film that took home the Tampere Film Festival's Kiss for the best animation in 2007. The Brazilian UG screenings have been composed by the coordinator of Múmia Festival, Sávio Leite, whose new animation Earth (2008) participates in the international competition this year.

Competition screenings feature numerous other animations, too. Nick Park's latest film to star the characters Wallace and Gromit, The Matter of Loaf and Death (2008), takes part in the international competition, and the Finnish competition in the category of films under 30 minutes is flooded with animations from Turku.

Discussions

Vietnam. Now!With the director Ngo Manh Lan with Ngo Phuong Lan, Lai Van Sinh, Bui Kim Quy and Luu Van Thao.Werstas auditorium, Thursday 5 March, 12:00

Anarchy in animationWith Pavel Koutský (Checzh Republic), Sávio Leite (Brazil), CHRZU (Finland), and Simo Ruotsalainen and Niina Suominen from Turun Anikistit. Chairman Tatu Pohjavirta.Werstas auditorium, Friday 6 March, 16:00

MORE INFORMATION
Riina Mikkonen, Press Coordinatortel. +358 3 213 0034 or +358 40 532 2912riina.mikkonen@tamperefilmfestival.fi
Sanna Kyllönen, Press Coordinatortel. +358 3 213 0034 or +358 40 067 7667sanna.kyllonen@tamperefilmfestival.fi

MUMIA in Tampere

Múmia - Underground Worldwide Animation Festival – Brazil or MUMIA – International Underground of Short Animation.

As it is widely known, in ancient Egypt, mummification was used to preserve the corpse of important personalities, such as priests and wise men, by using balsamic substances – a way of sanctifying death as well as life, since what has been preserved in the pyramids and sarcophaguses – mummies, papyruses, decorative objects – constitute a true interface with not only some people’s lives but with a whole civilization.

The Múmia, by analogy, aims at preserving and making public the international production of animated movies,through open shows and panels which present facts and knowledge in the area,often produced by anonymous artists who rarely get paid for their work.Many of the movies which reach us through various ways, from different states in Brazil as well as from different countries in the world, would remain embalmed on the shelves of inefficient festival curators were it not for the cooperative spirit of Múmia, which is open to everyone without restriction.

The festival aims at amplifying the imaginative spaces and the possibilities of new utterances, new feelings, as well as a new way of expressing oneself. It is also an impulse to cinematographic culture that believes the formation of new audiences, as well as filmmakers. Films and videos that were produced with no support are welcome, including those which caused loss for their producers and were fully carried out with low or no budget at all.

MUMIA is a non-competitive initiative by animation professionals supported by CRAV (Centro de Referência Audiovisual de Belo Horizonte), the Historical Museum Abílio Barreto, Integrated Schools of the City of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, ABCA, ABCA-MG, SESC/Laces/JK, Leite Filmes, Pimenta Filmes and Miguilim Cultural. In 2009, its 7th edition will happen in Brazil.

MUMIA has as its finality the propagation of audiovisual animation production and aims at contributing for the development of videography as a language system, with specific format and production method.
Moreover, it aims at providing the public with a significant share of the national and international video-graphic production, which remains excluded from commercial film circuit.

MUMIA aprreciates taking part on one of the biggest short-films festivals of the world that is Tampere. For that, it has been chosen the most expressives brazilian animations and whose films has been awarded, that demonstrates the good moment of brazilian audiovisual. All the films have been already screnning on the six editions in Brazil.

http://www.tamperefilmfestival.fi/shop2009/product_info.php?cPath=52&products_id=366
http://www.tamperefilmfestival.fi/shop2009/product_info.php?cPath=52&products_id=367

Sávio Leite – Coordinator.

Competition Selections Released - Tampere 2009

Finnish Competition
This year, about 350 films were offered for the Finnish Competition. The amount of fiction increased, but documentaries remained strong.

The Finnish Competition is divided into two categories; Films over 30 minutes and films under 30 minutes. Over-30-minutes category in 2009 consists of nine documentaries and two fiction films. Documentary directors include Peter von Bagh, John Webster, Jukka Kärkkäinen, and Satu Väätäinen. The two fictional films are Monte Rosso (2008) by Tuomas Milonoff and Jon Sundell and Where Is Where? (2009), the newest film by Eija-Liisa Ahtila.

There are 25 films competing in the under-30-minutes category. There are nine animations, seven fictional films and eight documentaries. Only Kari Yli-Annala's film A Life of One's Own (a long tomorrow) (2008) has been reported experimental. These shorter films take four screenings and the longer films seven screenings, making the total number of screenings in the Finnish Competition altogether eleven.

Jury for the Finnish Competition 2009 are actress Anni-Kristiina Juuso, artist Teemu Mäki, and producer Shane Smith from Canada.

The Finnish Competition is also viewed by the "Risto Jarva jury" set by the Finnish Film Foundation. Members are: director Kiti Luostarinen, Matti Paunio of channel MTV3, and Otto Suuronen, Assistant / International Promotion - Short and Documentary Films at the Finnish Film Foundation.

International Competition
A fair 3000 films from 73 countries were offered to the International Competition. A clear majority were fiction (about 1800) and animations came in second (about 600). Approximately 340 documentaries were offered, and almost 330 experimental films.

Sixty-nine films were selected. Most, 31 of them, are fiction. There are 15 animations and 19 documentaries, and four experimental films. The already familiar names this year are Nick Park (UK) with his new Wallace & Gromit animation, Hazim Bitar (Jordan), director collective BIF (France), and Mikhail Zheleznikov (Russia). Zimbabwe enters the Festival as a new country with Christina Anderson's Inflation (2008).

Finnish films are represented in the International Competition by three documentaries: Between Dreams (2008) by Iiris Olsson, Ghosts (2008) by Jan Ijäs, and Hanasaari A (2009) by Hannes Vartiainen and Pekka Veikkolainen.

Jury for the International Competition are Ngo Phuong Lan (Vietnam), Mia Maike Höhne (Germany), Kristiina Pervilä (Finland), William Sloan (USA), and Montserrat Guiu Valls (Spain).

LAB1O Competition
LAB1O Competition, characterized by films that stretch the limits of cinematic expression, launched in 2008. This year 19 films were selected, and they will be divided into three screenings. Two films by Johannes Nyholm from Sweden are particularly titillating: animation Sagan om den lille dockpojken (2008) and a documentary Dockpojken (2008) on the animation. Kimi Takasue from the USA, familiar from previous years' films in the International Competition, now takes part in the LAB1O with Suspended (2008). This year Finland is represented by Hit the Road - A Regular Love Story (2009) by Tero Jartti.

Jury for the LAB1O Competition are director of the Mumiá Underground Worldwide Animation Festival Sávio Leite (Brazil), executive manager at Espoo Ciné Jenni Ukkonen (Finland), and program manager at Finnkino Toni Lähteinen (Finland).

Prizes
International Competition:Grand Prix €5000, Best Animation €1500, Best Fiction €1500, Best Documentary €1500, as well as nomination for European Short Film Awards.

The winners of the International Competition Grand Prix and the main prize for under-30-minutes in the Finnish Competition get to compete for the nomination for Best Live Action / Animated Short Film Oscar®.

Finnish Competition:Under-30-minutes category main prize €5000 (Finnkino Oy) and special prize €1500.Over-30-minutes category main prize €5000 (Oy Yleisradio Ab) and special prize €1500.
The films in both categories also compete for the Risto Jarva Award (€10.000, the Finnish Film Foundation), and for a resourse award (€3400, Digital Film Finland & Finnlab).
LAB1O Competition:Main prize €2000.
In addition, all competitions have honorary awards and audience awards. The Finnish Competition also has a youth jury award and a student award.
ENQUIRIES
Jukka-Pekka Laakso, Festival Directortel. +358 3 214 1143 or +358 40 703 8599festdirector@tamperefilmfestival.fi
Riina Mikkonen, Press Coordinatortel. +358 3 213 0034 or +358 40 532 2912riina.mikkonen@tamperefilmfestival.fi

Feminism, Vietnam, the Swinging Sixties in Tampere International Film Festival

Female filmmakers are strongly represented in the Tampere Film Festival program.
The Terra Femina display shows 21st century films that are feministic, humoristic, light, and hurtful statements about life as a woman. In addition to retrospects of Eija-Liisa Ahtila and dancer/choreographer/film director Miranda Pennell, we are offered the new film by Agnès Varda. One of the few female new wave directors in France, Varda has made a long documentary of her life and films, called Les plages d'Agnès (2008). This is the film´s Finland premier.

Vietnam. Now. focuses on the awakening tiger of Asia as a film-producing country. We will see a wide spectrum of rarely seen Vietnamese animations, short films, and documentaries from the 1960s to date. Vietnam War is also strongly present in the newer productions. Naturally it is not the only subject; for example, there is an entire screening of animations by Ngo Manh Lan, the oldest of which is from 1965.

The MoMA screenings are a continuation to the sixties theme. They include Andy Warhol films and rare American short films from 1905 to 1986. The displays have been assembled by William Sloan of The Museum of Modern Art. All three screenings are accompanied by musician Jimi Tenor. The Canon of Short Film screening keeps up the swinging sixties and Vietnam War themes, as does the Rake Special display with Emile de Antonio's In The Year of the Pig (1968).
Whatta Helvetia? screening hails from Switzerland with three screenings of short films and a long documentary La forteresse (2007). The short films show the dark side of Swiss life but there is cheeriness afoot to boot. The winners in their country have been assembled in the screening number 1; among them is also an Oscar nominee Auf der strecke (2007) by Reto Caff. La forteresse familiarizes us with the reception centre of refugees, and with its tenants and employees.

A Piece of India screening bores into the everyday life of Indian children in two documentary screenings by Rajesh S. Jala. The first screening shows films located in Kashmir; Floating Lamp in the Shadow Valley (2006), and short films Chinar (1996) and Aazadi (1996). The second screening shows Children of the Pyre (2008), located in Manikarika cremation cemetery in Varanas. The film won the prize for best documentary in both Montreal and São Paulo, and has toured numerous festivals including Pusan, Leipzig, and Amsterdam.

This year offers a wide and ranging spectrum of animations. Bill Plympton´s newest long animation Idiots and Angels (2008) premiers in Finland at this festival. Short film Hot Dog (2008) begins the screening. There are two screenings of Brazilian independent animation, curated by Sávio Leite, director of the Múmia Festival. European animation has its stand through two retrospectives; Swedish and Czech. The first one is an extremely rare collection of animation pioneer Victor Bergdahl´s Kapten Grogg adventures from 1915 till 1922. The same screening offers his first animation The Demon Drink (1915), as well as Kapten Grogg och Kalle på negerbal which was prohibited in Finland in 1917. Traditional Czech animation is represented by the Pavel Koutský retrospective, showing for example the 1987 winner of Best Animation in the International Competition in Tampere Curriculum vitae (1986). The animation also won the Golden Bear in Berlin.

This year the traditional Finnish Film Archive screening is located in the Hällä theatre with four screenings. Two of them include short films by Veikko Itkonen and a feature film order-made for newspaper Helsingin Sanomat called Thus Was the Present Day Born (1951). The two other screenings show short films by Valentin Vaala and Eino Mäkinen.

In addition to the traditional student screenings, this year offers two screenings of absolute gems; old films by those who have in their time studied in the fifty-year-old University of Art and Design, in the school of Motion Picture and Production Design. We see early student films by Pirjo Honkasalo, Anu Kuivalainen, and Lauri Törhönen. The idea of the Runaways screening is, on the other hand, to show what Finnish students have worked on in foreign academies.
This year Tullikamari is even more of a playground of both music and film than before. On Wednesday there is the Art of Fusion screening, with a 16-mm projector performance MetalkinG from France by Gaëlle Rouard and Etienne Claire. The same screening sees Magyar Posse accompanying a Petri Hagner film Aldebaran Rising. On Friday, there is a documentary on the birth of dubstep, Bassweight, as well as music videos from London. On Saturday, there is a second project by Rouard and Claire, and afterwards Tullikamari is taken over by Tags´n´Beats, a night party of street art and hip hop culture.

Traditionalists on the other hand may enjoy the documentary Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (2008) which addresses the musician´s career through rare archive material and interviews. The new Finnish music videos of the year are naturally shown as usual.

MORE INFORMATION
Jukka-Pekka Laakso, Festival Directortel. +358 3 214 1143 or +358 40 703 8599festdirector@tamperefilmfestival.fi

Riina Mikkonen, Press Coordinatortel. +358 3 213 0034 or +358 40 532 2912riina.mikkonen@tamperefilmfestival.fi