Text: Tapio Keskitalo
Translation: Lea Ränssi
– "My documentaries are compact peeks into the world of science, futurism, and technology optimism," says film and video director Mika Taanila.
Observing a society filled with technology is the carrying theme also in Taanila's latest work, Optical Sound, which premiers in the Tampere Film Festival. The sounds of the 6-minute film are made up of the clicks of computer printers.
– "Optical Sound was a fun project, because I've only done longer documents before. A 6-minute film calls for extreme crystallization of expression. Everything redundant has to be cut out."
According to the director, the intent of Optical Sound is to make busy modern people realise just how profoundly their environment is controlled by technology and machinery.
However, Taanila declares that the repetition of similar themes in several documentaries has not been a conscious choice. Also, the director does not find his documentaries to be downright political, although they portray a critical image of modern society.
– "Technology defines our living environment so strongly that at times it pays off to go beyond the surface to observe society. I want my works to have a more general meaning. For example, RoboCup may seem like a comical subject at first, but it gets more serious once it's made clear just how closely artificial intelligence research is linked to the war industry."
Despite his choices of themes, Taanila does not admit to be a technology freak of any kind. In fact, quite the opposite: the director claims that he is somewhat sceptical about the idea of the empowering force of technology.
In addition to documentaries and several experimental short films, Mika Taanila has directed a lot of music videos. He is the man behind the videos of Kauko Röyhkä, 22-Pistepirkko and Maritta Kuula, among others. The video of 22-Pistepirkko's "Birdy", which was directed by Taanila, came in fifth place of the 1993 MTV Europe Music Video Awards. Since the turn of the millenium Taanila has not had the time or the inspiration to work on music videos.
– "After graduation, directing music videos seemed like a fun thing to do. I was able to search for my own cinematic expression at the same time. In part it might have had something to do with the fact that I've never known how to play an instrument, although I'd like to. At some point my videos started to repeat themselves, and I haven't done them since," says Taanila, who graduated from The Institute of Design of Lahti Polytechnic in 1992.
Music remains close to Taanila's heart and it plays an important role in his documentaries as well.
– "For me, music is not just something to fill silent moments with, but a very important part of the way I make films. Some documentary makers shun the use of music, but for me it's just the opposite. In Thank You For The Music, for example, there is music playing practically all the time."
Taanila has directed films for fifteen years. In The Tampere Film Festival he is in the public eye not only because of Optical Sound, but also because of the Carte Blanche show he was asked to put together. Carte Blanche is a series of films, and it is put together by a different film professional each year in the Tampere Film Festival. Taanila's works will also be viewed in a retrospection that brings together his documentaries and music videos. Compiling the Carte Blanche was a pleasant task for Taanila.
– "I chose the films based on how I felt about them. The films I chose have all influenced my work. I would especially like to mention the American director Kenneth Anger and the French Jean Painlevé, whose works have been a source of inspiration to me."
In addition to making films, Taanila is working on The Avanto Helsinki Media Art Festival of experimental music and avantgarde films, which was set up five years ago and is organized annually in Helsinki. The busy director has a pithy answer when asked what he would like to do in the next 15 years.
– "I hope that by then I'd have more time to sit in the Orion movie theatre and watch the film screenings of the Finnish Film Archive."
Mika Taanila retrospection on Friday March 11th at 8 pm in Plevna 6 and Saturday March 12th at 6 pm in Plevna 5. Optical Sound in the National Competition Friday March 11th at 6 pm in Plevna 5 and Saturday march 12th at 8 pm in Plevna 2 and in the International Competition on Wednesday March 9th at 6 pm in Plevna 2 and Friday March 11th at 4 pm in Plevna 5.
Updated 10 March 2005 9:53
