Tampere Film Festival

One of the things I really look forward to each year is the Tampere International Short Film Festival. It's one of the biggest short film festivals in the world and for those 5 days Tampere is packed with movie lovers and esteemed foreign guests from all over the world. This year we had the honour of welcoming such directors as the amazing Pjotr Sapegin, the two-time Oscar-nominee and Cannes Prix du Jury winning animator Bill Plympton, the German avant-garde filmmaker and media artist Matthias Müller and the father of American direct cinema Robert Drew who has won everything from an Emmy to the first prize at Cannes, and whose film Primary was inducted to the U.S. National Film Registry in 1990.

I volunteer at the festival as a "door person" which I think is a great way to earn a festival pass and free food. I do four 6-hour shifts during which I can also watch films, in between letting people in. And then when I'm not working I can go see films for free. Unfortunately, this year I was so busy with my exam that I only had time to see less than 50 films (which sounds like a lot but compared to the 100+ I saw last year it really isn't).

The absolute highlights for me were the music documentary Neil Young: Heart of Gold, two Norwegian shorts Asylsokere and Panther Martin and a beautiful Hungarian film Before Dawn (13 minutes in one single shot in CinemaScope). And then I saw one of last year's winners again and it was as funny as it was the first couple of times: Jonas Geirnaert: Flatlife.


Here's a list of everything I saw:

Claudio Noce: Aria (2005)
Miia Tervo: Hylje (2005)
Luke Morris, Toby Macdonald: Heavy Metal Drummer (2005)
Jean-Gabriel Périot: Eût-Elle Été criminelle... (2005)
Claudia Priscilla: Sexo E Claustro (2005)
Sharon Colman: Badgered (2005)
Michael Duignan: Truant (2005)
Xavi Sala: Hiyab (2005)
Caroline Sascha Cogez: Mellem Rum (2004)
Maja Lindström: En Nattsaga (2005)
Kaja Wright Polmar: Asylsokere (2005)
Poopak Mozafari: Aan (2004)
Terje Rangnes: Panther Martin (2004)
Tatu Pohjavirta: Elukka (2005)
Bálint Kenyeres: Before Dawn (2005)
Chi-Jan Hou: My 747 (2005)
Ken Wardrop: Ouch (2004)
Jan Verbeek: On a Wednesday Night in Tokyo (2004)
Rostislav Aalto: Ota minut syliin (2006)
Mikko Keinonen: Risto ja Minna (2006)
Kim Helminen: Pieni Porsas (2005)
Timo Kalevi Puukko: Winterlong (2005)
Aiju Salminen: Elvis kääntyy haudassaan (2005)
Mervi Junkkonen: Aarne (2005)
Jalmari Helander, Juuso Helander: Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions (2005)
Teemu Nikki: Menestyjä (2005)
Reijo Kela: 365 päivää - Reijo Kelan videopäiväkirja 1999 (2006)
Robert Drew: Faces of November (1963)

Bill Plympton:
Push Comes to Shove (1991)
Nosehair (1994) - I love the comment on IMDB: "Bizarre even by Plympon's standars."
How to Make Love to a Woman (1995)
Plympmania (1996)
Sex & Violence (1997)
The Exciting Life of a Tree (1998)
More Sex & Violence (1998)
Eat (2001)

Unknown: Kuvavälähdys Tampereelta (1915)
Uno Pihlström: Kesällä Tampereella (1940)
Jonas Geirnaert: Flatlife (2004)
Jonathan Demme: Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
Group of Children, 14-16 years: Pobeg Iz Salatinizy