The first ever miniature film festival on Instagram
The @aaltoarts originals film festival is a collaboration between ELO Film School and Aalto ARTS communications. In spring 2021, it brought seven completely new, tailor-made short film diamonds to audiences across Instagram. Although Instagram has been home to some mini tv-series and gaming experiments, this week-long event was the first ever arthouse short film festival on this specific social media platform.
The film and TV industry is currently undergoing a massive transformation. In recent years, the industry has witnessed a fragmenting of digital consumption of film and TV content. Audiences have a multitude of new platforms and on-demand services to choose from, and movies and TV series can be watched anywhere with the tap of a finger on laptops, tablets or smartphones. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to permanently alter the ways creative audiovisual content is produced, distributed and viewed.
This means that the film and TV industry is currently reinventing itself by exploring new technologies but also by making new combinations of different kinds of art forms.
As part of this trend of positive disruption, ELO Film School decided to embark on a short film exploration on Instagram. Lecturer Hanna Maylett’s course stretched the possibilities of this social media platform to the max. ELO students created tailor-made miniature films for @aaltoarts Instagram feed, and managed to portray whole universes within the Insta-limits. The miniature films were inspired by legends such as Fellini, Tarkovski, Wim Wenders, Yorgos Lánthimos, Gaspar Noé and the Finnish comedy group Studio Julmahuvi. All works were filmed and produced at Aalto campus, in Otaniemi Finland.
The results show that Instagram is a surprisingly apt digital platform for creative content. However, regardless of change, sound storytelling and a high level of technical expertise will always prevail.
Follow @aaltoarts on Instagram!
Still from the film Desire by Anton Baer. Starring Pekka Strang and Johannes Brotherus.
Still from the film Desire by Anton Baer. Starring Pekka Strang and Johannes Brotherus.
Auditorio (Auditorium)
Carita has poured everything into her work. One day at work her world comes crashing down as she is confronted by her past; the choices she’s made and the life she’s never had. ”Auditorio” is strongly influenced by director Yorgos Lanthimos short film ”Nimic”.
Saara Hakkarainen, Sebastian Granskog, Ari Virem, Konsta Verta, Maleena Linjama, Eveliina Mauno, Iris Kärkkäinen, Arttu Liimatta, Valo Rinne, Elisa Härmä, Pauliina Maus
No perkele
Ossi desperately wants to be accepted by the office ski fanatics so he can be seen as one of the guys. He grabs his skis and hits the trail. ”No Perkele” is a comedy short about the expectations of being a man in Finland, inspired by the Finnish comedy series ”Studio Julmahuvi” and their sketch ”Roudasta Rospuuttoon”.
Saara Hakkarainen, Sebastian Granskog, Ari Virem, Konsta Verta, Maleena Linjama, Eveliina Mauno, Iris Kärkkäinen, Arttu Liimatta, Valo Rinne, Elisa Härmä, Pauliina Maus
Sykli
The cycle gently glances at the ongoing circus. Inspired by Fellini’s playfulness, the clip spins a perspective where oddness seems to be common.
Magdaleena Jakkila, Aleksis Riehakainen, Elisa Härmä, Eveliina Mauno, Iris Kärkkäinen, Arttu Liimatta, Ari Virem, Pauliina Maus
In-between (treatise)
A treatise about the space between us. The strong POV image asks: Can we share something more with a stranger than we imagined. This film was influenced by the works of Gaspar Noé in "Enter the Void".
Magdaleena Jakkila, Aleksis Riehakainen, Elisa Härmä, Eveliina Mauno, Iris Kärkkäinen, Arttu Liimatta, Ari Virem, Pauliina Maus
Visitors I and II
These two miniature films take their inspiration from Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris. We wanted to create a meditative, floating feeling – something that one is able to experience when connecting with the other.
Helmi Donner, Iris Kärkkäinen, Mikael Hakkarainen, Ronja Haikka, Arttu Liimatta, Valo Rinne, Olavi Murto, Pauliina Maus
Desire
It's a story about an angel who desires to become a human. We were trying to translate the flow of the Wim Wenders epic film: Wings of desire to a small screen. Also the storming of the U.S. capitol and the 2021 protests in Russia inspired us to put a small story of a lost Riot police in the film.
Anton Baer, Arttu Liimatta, Tyko Sairanen, Sanne Saajos, Ronja Haikka, Iris Kärkkäinen, Valo Rinne, Ari Virem, Pauliina Maus
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