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They say that according to archaeologist Margaret Mead, the earliest sign of human civilisation is a healed femur. A healed femur meant that an injured individual was helped by members of their community and survived. Instead of building weapons, it was the ability to nurture that assured the survival of the human race.
Even if this story is false, this idea of the first sign of civilisation is inspiring. Care is what binds individuals together and therefore acts as the catalyst and binding agent for a community. This side of democracy is explored in the themed programme titled Radical Care. As wars and militarist discourse rage on, claiming that care is one of the things keeping democracies alive is sure to be an unfashionable take.
Putting together a film festival might very well be unfashionable as well. The budget cuts towards culture made by the Finnish government are felt at Tampere Film Festival as well. We have to keep coming up with new ways to save money and make unpleasant decisions. However, this year’s Tampere Film Festival is its 55th iteration, so we’re not exactly giving up easily.
This year’s TFF features 115 screenings, 357 short films, one feature-length experimental film, 13 feature-length documentaries and three fictive feature films. Our competitions gained a total of 7 678 submissions, of which 123 from sixty different countries were selected. Our themed programme includes Mongolian animation and experimental films from Lithuania, to name a few. This year’s retrospective is dedicated to Pirjo Honkasalo, with early short films as well as the Finnish premier of her latest work. In addition to film screenings we offer a total of almost thirty events, both for the general public and for industry professionals.
Is this a luxury? Yes, and a vital one. And the result of hard work, too: films, film screenings, discussions, workshops, or the very festival itself wouldn’t happen without plenty of professional work.
With this I offer my most humble thanks to our financers, partners, festival colleagues, filmmakers, volunteers and the employees at Tampere Film Festival for all their efforts in creating this luxury.
Let us enjoy films, each other’s company and thoughts.
Peace and love,
Riina Mikkonen
Executive Director at Tampere Film Festival
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