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Helsinki Cine Aasia thank yous and acknowledgements

 

The only festival of contemporary Asian cinema in Finland, Helsinki Cine Aasia, drew to a close on Sunday. This year’s festival equalled its visitor record, drawing 1 800 film-goers in total. 23 films from 10 countries were shown at the four-day festival in a total of 34 screenings.

One of the most popular films at the festival was The Seen and Unseen (Sekala Niskala, 2017) by Kamila Andini who also visited the festival. Japanese films The Third Murder (Sandome no satsujin, 2017), The Mohican Comes Home (Mohican kokyo ni kaeru, 2016) and We Make Antiques! (Uso happyaku, 2018) were also film-goers’ favourites. A total of 20 films premiered in Finland at the festival.

Read moreHelsinki Cine Aasia thank yous and acknowledgements

An interview with director Kamila Andini

 

Kamila Andini’s enchanting film The Seen and Unseen opened Helsinki Cine Aasia on Thursday 15th March. We spoke to the director about her sources of inspiration, influences and future plans, and asked her for recommendations from the Helsinki Cine Aasia programme. Andini is currently visiting the festival and will be attending the second screening of her film at Helsinki Cine Aasia on Saturday 17th March. After the screening, she will discuss film and film-making with Ulla Heikkilä from Women in Film and Television Finland.

What inspired you to make The Seen and Unseen?

I started working on The Seen and Unseen right after I had finished working on my first feature, The Mirror Never Lies. In my second film, I wanted to explore who I am as an Indonesian and how we are connected to each other and to the universe.

Read moreAn interview with director Kamila Andini

Gain insights to the festival programme in discussions with experts

 

Films are inseparably connected to both the surrounding world and the tradition of filmmaking. Over the festival weekend, new perspectives to the films in the Helsinki Cine Aasia programme will be explored in discussions with experts.

The festival’s director guest Kamila Andini (born 1986) and a representative of the Women in Film and Television Finland Ulla Heikkilä will discuss films and film-making as well as Andini’s latest film, The Seen and Unseen (2017) which opens Helsinki Cine Aasia 2018. The Seen and Unseen was awarded the main award in the Generation KPlus category at the recent Berlinale.

Read moreGain insights to the festival programme in discussions with experts

Organisers’ picks from the Helsinki Cine Aasia 2018 programme

 

Have you already decided, which films you are going to see at Helsinki Cine Aasia this year? The festival programme is full of interesting premiers and thought-provoking & impassioned quality drama which can make choosing difficult. To help you out, we have listed here the festival organisers’ picks of films that we don’t want to miss – and neither do you!

Eija Niskanen, programming director: We Make Antiques! is a wacky fiddle, featuring a nosy antiques dealer and the best ceramist in the village plus a host of other eccentric figures. Who knows whether they will find a genuine 500-year old tea ceremony cup or not?

Centaur is a new opening for our festival country-wise as it is a Kyrgyz film. It deals in an interesting manner with the clash of the traditional and the modern as well as the horse myth common to many Central Asian countries. There is also a discussion related to the film with Victoria Peemot which unlocks the horse theme to the uninitiated.

We make antiques! is screened on Thursday 15th March at 18:15 and on Sunday 18th March at 17:15 at Korjaamo Kulmasali. Centaur is screened on Friday 16th March at 14:00 at Korjaamo Elokuvasali and on Saturday 17th March at 11:30 at Korjaamo Kulmasali. The Saturday screening is followed by a discussion with Victoria Peemot.

Read moreOrganisers’ picks from the Helsinki Cine Aasia 2018 programme

Helsinki Cine Aasia 2018 opening film is Kamila Andini’s The Seen and Unseen

 

Helsinki Cine Aasia opens with the award-winning The Seen and Unseen (Sekala Niskala, 2017) by the Indonesian director Kamila Andini. It is a stylized psychological drama of the magical realism genre that depicts a young girl’s mental journey when her twin brother falls severely ill. The film is set in Bali and it is based around local beliefs and Balinese people’s relationship with nature.

Kamila Andini will also be visiting Helsinki Cine Aasia. She will attend the screenings of her film and participate in the discussions.

Read moreHelsinki Cine Aasia 2018 opening film is Kamila Andini’s The Seen and Unseen

Are you interested in volunteering at a festival? Join the Helsinki Cine Aasia team!

 

Helsinki Cine Aasia is currently recruiting volunteers to help organise the festival. Volunteers’ tasks range from distribution of the festival poster to customer services.

Helsinki Cine Aasia will be held on 15th–18th March 2018 but some of the work takes place already in February before the festival begins. If you are interested please contact us at staff@helsinkicineaasia.fi. Please write “Volunteers” in the subject line.

We look forward to hearing from you. Welcome aboard our fantastic festival team!

Helsinki Cine Aasia – Get to know the organisers

 

Helsinki Cine Aasia is organised by the Asian Cinema Association of Finland. It was founded in 2011 by four experts on East Asian cultures and cinema – Eija Niskanen, Jenni Peisa, Leena Eerolainen and Johanna Rissanen.

The inaugural Helsinki Cine Aasia took place in 2013. Of the awesome founding foursome, Niskanen, Peisa and Eerolainen are still tightly involved in organising the festival. Below they talk about their relationship with Asian cinema and some memorable moments along their festival journey so far.

In the picture, there are members from the Helsinki Cine Aasia organising team in 2014. From left to right: Sonia Junttila, graphic designer, Leena Eerolainen, producer, Johanna Rissanen, producer, Ria Vaahto, press officer and Jenni Peisa, managing director. In the middle is Eija Niskanen, festival’s artistic director.

Read moreHelsinki Cine Aasia – Get to know the organisers

Celebrating Asian cinema for the fifth year running – Helsinki Cine Aasia 2013-2017

 

Finland’s only festival of contemporary Asian cinema Helsinki Cine Aasia is this year organised already for the fifth time. The festival was established by four experts on East Asian cultures and cinema – Eija Niskanen, the festival’s artistic director, Jenni Peisa, managing director and producers Leena Eerolainen and Johanna Rissanen. Niskanen, Peisa and Eerolainen are still strongly involved in day-to-day organising of the festival, and in addition, there are several other enthusiastic team members helping out each year.

Although the festival’s founding foursome knew each other through various channels even before, the decision to set up Helsinki Cine Aasia was made when Niskanen and Eerolainen bumped into each other at the Tokyo International Film Festival in the autumn 2011.

Read moreCelebrating Asian cinema for the fifth year running – Helsinki Cine Aasia 2013-2017

Helsinki Cine Aasia – Get to know the organisers

Helsinki Cine Aasia is organised by the Asian Cinema Association of Finland. It was founded in 2011 by four experts on East Asian cultures and cinema – Eija Niskanen, Jenni Peisa, Leena Eerolainen and Johanna Rissanen.

The inaugural Helsinki Cine Aasia took place in 2013. Of the awesome founding foursome, Niskanen, Peisa and Eerolainen are still tightly involved in organising the festival. Below they talk about their relationship with Asian cinema and some memorable moments along their festival journey so far.

In the picture, there are members from the Helsinki Cine Aasia organising team in 2014. From left to right: Sonia Junttila, graphic designer, Leena Eerolainen, producer, Johanna Rissanen, producer, Ria Vaahto, press officer and Jenni Peisa, managing director. In the middle is Eija Niskanen, festival’s artistic director.

Read moreHelsinki Cine Aasia – Get to know the organisers