FUTURO – A NEW STANCE FOR TOMORROW
Mika Taanila, Finland, 1998, colour, sound, 30 min
In 1968, the Finnish architect Matti Suuronen designed Futuro, a house made of plastic, which resembles a flying saucer and reflects the 1960s optimism of space travel. It was another classic of Finnish design alongside the famous ball-shaped “globe chairs” by Eero Aarnio. This film chronicles the rise and fall of Futuro during the 1970s oil crisis, which rendered the commercial manufacture of the plastic house nearly impossible. A journey back in time to our recent futuristic past, and the story of a Space Age utopia that almost came true.

A PHYSICAL RING
Mika Taanila, Finland, 2002, colour, sound, 4 min
A minimal found-footage film based on material from an anonymous Finnish physical test that took place in the 1940’s. The original purpose of the test remains unknown today. Through careful editing, inanimate research footage is assembled to a piece of kinetic fantasy. An integral part of the final work is the specially commissioned, haunting soundtrack by Ø (Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic).

FUTURE IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE
Mika Taanila, Finland, 2002, colour, sound, 52 min
A film about Erkki Kurenniemi, the human memory, computers and immortality. Kurenniemi is a forgotten visionary and pioneering figure in the history of Finnish avant-garde film and music, whose career represents a surprisingly natural blend of music, film, computers, robotics, science and art. He composed computer-based music and designed his own electronic instruments as early as the 1960s. His project of collecting everything around him will perhaps be the most significant of all his works. Kurenniemi records his thoughts, observations, objects and images constantly, with manic precision, with the ultimate goal of merging man and machine – reconstructing the human soul. The film looks into the past, but very clearly sees far ahead into the future through it.

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