FINLAND WORLD: DES TRAVAUX ET DES JOURS

Réalisateurs : Heikki Aho et Björn Soldan Courtesy of AHO & SOLDAN PHOTO et FILM FOUNDATION, Helsinki, Finland

Pionniers d’un cinéma vérité en Finlande, Heikki Taavetti Aho (1895-1961) et Björn Soldan (1902-1953) fondent l’unité de production Aho & Soldan (1925-1961) à Helsinki, dédiée à la promotion du cinéma finlandais documentaire. Aho & Soldan ont ainsi produit plus de 400 films, qui s’attachent à produire des archives sur la société finlandaise, tout en mettant en valeur les dialogues entre photographie et cinéma. Le programme ici constitué est représentatif de ce cinéma documentaire humaniste, qui cartographie des métiers, des géographies, des figures d’intellectuels et d’artistes finlandais comme Jean Sibélius. FILMMAKER ON SUMMER HOLIDAY, 1936, 8’ Excerpts from the family´s summer place at Toska, Tvärminne, Hanko including footage of Heikki Aho the avid fisherman, the young Claire Aho clearing nets, and her grandmother, the painter Venny Soldan-Brofeldt. WHEN MERCURY FALLS, 1933, 6’ Mother Nature herself provided the youngsters in Helsinki with an anticipated feat. The mercury falling below zero, enabling the ice skating rink to be prepared for the joys of winter. On site were also Heikki Aho and Björn Soldan with their film cameras. Björn did not have to make his pirouettes alone, since he was accompanied by a happy bunch of kids. The winterhad arrived to Helsinki. ARABIA, 1932, 6’ The Arabia ceramics factory had grown for a moment to the largest porcelain factory in Europe. It had gained attention already at the Worls´s Fair in Paris in 1900. As this film reveals, coffee cups, plates, vases, tiled stoves and even toilets were largely made by hand. Several of Arabia´s designers (including Kaarina Aho (1925-1990), the cousin of photographer Claire Aho) gained international reputation. OUR BEAUTIFUL CAPITAL, 1937, 6’ FINLAND CALLING, 1938, 20’ – Musique de Jean Sibelius. Commissioned by the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Finland Calling appeared in a number of incarnations starting 1932, culminating in this version, which was first presented at the 1939 World´s Fair in New York. Ostensibly a state-sponsored promotional tool, the film nevertheless transcends the terms of its brief in a manner that epitomizes Aho & Soldan’s filmmaking. Taking in scenes of industry, leisure, and the buzz of city life, the collage of images is reminiscent of the avant-garde city symphony films of Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov. With both form and content emphatically connoting movement and progress, Aho & Soldan’s montages are emblematic of a thriving nation fully in step with the contemporary modern era. TEMPO, 1934, 22’ ATLAS, 1933, 14’ Le succès d’Aho&Soldan s’explique en partie par leur propension à presenter des sujets un peu abrupt d’une manière visuellement engageante. Dans Atlas, commandée par une marque de tricots, la camera s’intéresse plus à la matière des tissus et aux mouvements mécaniques des machines plus qu’aux produits eux-mêmes Séances: Samedi 9 NOV - 14H