In collaboration with FIKAS (Immersive Festival of Scandinavian / Nordic Kultur and Art), we are presenting a selection of films by a Finnish filmmaker whose work has rarely been screened in North America. It is a unique opportunity to trace the decades-long career of a director whose distinctive style seamlessly intertwines fiction and documentary. Her latest film, Orenda, will be presented as a Canadian premiere.
Canadian Premiere
Orenda means an invisible force, a life spirit that inhabits everything living and lifeless: people, wind, birds, rabbits, stone. The one who serves Orenda and sings to it may receive its power. Exploring the themes of guilt and grace, the destinies of two women intertwine into a tense emotional thriller set on a remote island.
Pirjo Honkasalo
Pirjo Honkasalo is a Finnish film director who has also worked as a cinematographer, film editor, producer, and screenwriter. She was the first woman in Finland who did the cinematography for a feature film on Pilvilinna in 1970. In 1980, she co-directed Flame Top with Pekka Lehto, with whom she worked earlier and later as well. The film was chosen for the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the 1990s, she focused on feature documentaries such as "The Trilogy of the Sacred and the Satanic" (Mysterion, Tanjuska and the 7 Devils and Atman), and returned to fiction with Fire-Eater (1998), Concrete Night (2013) and Orenda (2025), all of which were written by Pirkko Saisio.
Photo: Mikko Hannula, Courtesy of The Yellow Affair
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