Away Up North – An Evening Of Movie Mavericks from Finland

After its milestone 40th anniversary, the legendary Midnight Sun Film Festival makes a one-off pilgrimage to the home of film history, the Cinema Museum in London. Founded in the Finnish Arctic Circle by Director brothers Aki and Mika Kaurismäki, the renowned international film festival has been exciting movie fans at the top of the world for decades.

London will be treated to a showcase of films curated from the vaults of the Finnish Film Archive. In the true spirit of the festival that never sleeps, there will be new discoveries and contemporary classics from Finnish mavericks. The highlight will be a live accompaniment by notable Finnish musicians Lau Nau and Henri Utan K. This continues the festival’s long legacy of reinterpreting silent cinema with fresh, contemporary live scores.

The evening closes with a rare 35mm screening of Mika Kaurismäki’s wisecracking cult film The Liar (1981), written and starring his brother Aki. It is preceded by Aki’s tribute to the Lumiére brothers, The Foundry (2007) and festival favourite Finnish Frustrations (1969), a groundbreaking feminist short by Eija Kaarresalo-Kasari.

Tervetuloa – a warm welcome.

Programme

7PM: INTRO

Midnight Sun Film Festival (Heikki Ortamo, 1987, 9min)

The greatest film festival (anti-)promotional short ever made, which explains why Midnight Sun is a unique event for both Finnish film buffs and some of the stellar international talents who attend it. The latter also appears in this hilarious guide to a very Finland way of sharing films.

Format: 35mm.

7.15 PM: PART ONE

Jean Sibelius at Home (Aho & Soldan, 1927, 6 min) – live score by Lau Nau

Late autumn, 1927, at the home of maestro Jean Sibelius in Ainola, Finland. A charming, little, free-form documentary about Sibelius and his family celebrating an autumn day. Heidi and Margareta Sibelius play four-hand piano, Aino is busy in the garden, the morning papers and a cigar start the master’s day. A classic from Finnish documentary pioneers Heikki Aho and Björn Soldan.

Format 16mm.

Once Upon Time There Was Winter – and Snow (Unknown,1934, 6 min) – live score by Lau Nau

The Finnish realm of snow and ice. In this unknown gem from almost a century ago, the progress of an icebreaker ship feels like a symbol of the modernisation and urbanisation of the world: slow but inevitable. The relationship with nature is still carefree. Joys of winter are taken for granted, and the urban core of Finland produces images that may seem like a fairytale to an outsider. Greetings from a time of innocence.

Format: DCP.

Varala, Women’s Paradise (Aimo Jäderholm, 1947, 9 min) – live score by Henri Utan K

Summer 1947, a poetic, skillfully rhythmic documentary about Varala, the legendary women’s physical education institute. Located in a scenic peninsula on the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi, it is the pride of Finland’s second city, Tampere. For decades Varala has been a haven for women’s sports. “Even though we only appear to be playing, we are doing it for the good of the fatherland.”

Format: 16mm.

Rocky VI (Aki Kaurismäki, 1986, 9 min)

A musical parody of Rocky IV (1985) topped with Aki Kaurismäki’s singular deadpan humour. Rocky, played by Silu Seppänen of Leningrad Cowboys fame, defends the Free World and battles the hulking Siberian boxer, Igor. Has Rocky finally met his match?

Format: 35mm.

Distant Planet (Juha Kuosmanen, 2023, 16 min) – live score by Lau Nau & Henri Utan K

Using handmade trickery, silent cinema is reawakened with a modern twist. From the Cannes-winning director Juho Kuosmanen (Compartment No. 6), the final instalment of the celebrated silent trilogy tells a story of lighthouse-keeper Marlanda and her little brother Maximilian. It’s a bedtime story about the end of everything and the extraordinary attempts to survive it. But it’s not bedtime, it’s just the interval.

Format: DCP.

8:15 PM: INTERMISSION

8:30 PM: PART TWO

The Foundry (Aki Kaurismäki, 2007, 4 min)

Another proletarian life slice, this time set in Karkkila, hometown of director Aki Kaurismäki. Workers at a foundry eat their lunch while watching the Lumiére brothers’ film La Sortie de l’usine Lumière à Lyon (1895).

Format: DCP.

Finnish Frustrations (Eija Kaarresalo-Kasari, 1969, 7 min)

Diminishing dances. The last chance for women and men to find a partner. In seven minutes, this feminist cornerstone of Finnish cinema isolates an aspect of sexual inequality with a narrative starkness.

Format: DCP.

The Liar (Mika Kaurismäki, 1981, 53 min)

Mika Kaurismäki’s debut film set the tone for his groundbreaking Finnish cinema of the following decades. Ville Alfa (Aki Kaurismäki) is a lazy, young student vainly trying to finish his first proletarian novel. He likes to walk the streets of Helsinki, tell stories, spin lies and scam money off his friends. All for more drink and more women. Then one day, he meets Tuula (Pirkko Hämäläinen) and tries to change. A witty tribute to Jean-Luc Godard, and a delightful discovery for many.

Format: 35mm.

Total duration: approx. 2.5 hours including interval.

MUSICIANS

Lau Nau

Lau Nau, AKA Laura Naukkarinen, is a Finnish composer and sound artist whose music is imbued with an idiosyncratic, finely honed, sonic world view. Her palette often consists of traditional instruments, singing voice, modular synthesisers and field recordings.

Releasing albums on record labels in Europe, US and Japan, Lau Nau has toured internationally for 25 years. Venues such as the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, Super Deluxe in Tokyo, and NYC’s Knitting Factory have all welcomed her music. Lau Nau has played live accompaniment to silent films at festivals such as Midnight Sun Film Festival, San Francisco Silent Film Festival and Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato.

Henri Utan K

Henri Utan K [ˈhɛn⟨r⟩ɪ uːtʌn kɒ] is the moniker of Finnish-born, London-based experimental guitarist and composer Henri Växby. On the fringes of the new music scene since the early 00s, his work moves between part-improvisation and full composition, combining stark dissonance with gently hypnotic soundscapes and ambient drones.

Henri studied composition at Goldsmiths University under Prof. Roger Redgate and at City St George’s University under Dr Claudia Molitor. He has been featured on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 3, at the Rainy Days Festival and Cafe OTO. Henri is also co-leader of avant-pop duo French For Cartridge and Finnish, post-Beatles outfit Icons of Elegance.

The event is supported by the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland.

Date

1 October

Time

19:00

Doors Open

18:00

Refreshments will be available in our licensed cafe/bar.

Venue location and access information.

Book tickets here.

Subject to availability, tickets will also be sold on the door.