The Replacement Killers

Teaming up with him is Mira
Sorvino
, with a convincing interpretation of Meg Coburn, a tough woman
forged by a hard destiny, who employees herself faking different kind of
documents and identification cards.

The director, Antoine Fuqua,
achieves some great action sequences during the movie. Chow Yun Fat, out of the
typical stereotyped muscled hero for action movies, commands respect on screen
just with his wild gazes. And the film counts some top-quality cast actors for
the “bad boys” such as Jurgen Pröchnow,
Clifton Collins or Danny Trejo.

But nevertheless, the film lacks that "something” necessary to
break the line of mediocrity. The Chinatown
atmosphere could have been much better explored, the characters appear to be
only lightly developed, and the rhythm of the film is sometimes not able to overcome
the feeling of merely admiring one killing spree after another by Yun-Fat/Lee.
If you are thirsty for more of Chow Yun-Fat´s action movies, go back to the earlier
Asian films where he starred.

The Good, The Bad and the Queen

The result
is a laid back album of pleasant listening. Music floods like calm ocean waves
and pop song structure is exceeded. The songs are moody, even cinematic. Allen
and Simonon, who is back in the music business after 16 years, keep a mellow
groove and Albarn’s singing is melancholic so the album is at risk of falling
into monotony, until the climax of the final song when the band loses the
unsentimental mood.

The album
is produced by Danger Mouse, responsible of Gnarls Barkley’s hit Crazy. Frequent listening will help finding
the rich details of the production and the charm of the compositions. One just
misses a more adventurous way of telling this sad story of a city.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

Riding Alone for Thousand
of Miles
is a movie
that flows peacefully and is well-balanced, just as the main character Gou-ichi
Takata (played by Ken Takakura) faces the problems of life.

There are many important things being told to the spectator in the film,
hidden behind the simplicity of forms used to narrate the storyline. It tells
about family relations, about bonds broken and remade, about communication,
between human beings and between cultures (Chinese-Japanese) and about the loss
of communication (from a father and a son who have not met for decades to the loss
of phone coverage in a remote Chinese village).

Director Zhang Yimou, who became internationally recognized with
his previous film House of Flying Daggers, completes a circle here; such
a recurrent figure when we come to think about Asian philosophy. He is able to
transport us from the simplest things of life, to the most complicated
feelings, and then back to simplicity reflected in the pure eyes of a child.
And all that with an exquisite respect for the culture, traditions and relations
of the two most powerful Asian tigers.

I enjoyed the redemption pilgrimage of Mr. Takata through the land of China, because it makes us just take a
look to some of the most important features that we have left in this life to
be considered human beings: forgiveness and love.

Grinderman – Grinderman

Cave sounds
revitalized, trying to be dark and noisy as he hasn’t been since Henry’s Dream. Grinderman is an
incorrect band, even naughty with a low-fi punk blues approach. The opener
track, 'Get it On', is uplifting and angry in a way that one feels like running
down the streets kicking basket cases and smashing windows.

But
Grinderman is also the continuation to the previous Nick Cave work, the double
album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus.
The song '(I Don’t Need You To) Set Me Free' would have perfectly fit on that
album. Another connection with previous works is one of those obscure murder
ballads that Cave loves to deliver.

Even when
Grinderman does not bring many new things to his music, it is thrilling to
listen to such a fresh Nick Cave, full of raw energy. The music on this album
promises some very hot live shows.

The teddy bear sings freakfolk

 

 

 

Your father is British and your mother is
Finnish, but it seems that you strongly identify with your Finnish side (your
band’s name is Nalle – Finnish for “little bear” – and you don’t use your British
surname for your work). Have you lived in Finland or spent much time here?

Yes, my mother is from Iisalmi and my
father from Sussex, where they both live and where I grew up. As a child I
spent my holidays with my Mummo in Iisalmi until she died and then visits to
Finland became less frequent. Two years ago I spent three months living in
Pispala, Tampere whilst on exchange at art school.

 

{mosimage} 

 

I identify with both ‘sides’, but yes, I
guess I yearn for the forests and lakes in Finland and the scent of the air.
They almost remain a fantasy in my dreams when I am not there and a constant
source of inspiration. I use my middle name Tuulikki (in English means little
wind) as my surname because I think its meaning describes me and the things
that I do better than my real surname. 

The band name Nalle came from the name of
my bear I was given by my Mummo and the idea that somehow our music is like a
transition object between us and the world, in the same way that a toy is to a
child.

Your website (www.hannatuulikki.com) gives a really
great overview of all of your work, which includes music and drawing. As your
artist’s statement highlights, you use various media “to explore music not as
an end in itself but as part of the wider environmental sound-scape”. Why did
you choose art school rather than music school? Who did you study with at the
Glasgow School of Art?

I guess I never really considered myself a
musician. Sure, I played music, but never in public! Aside from learning the
recorder and flute as a child, I have taught myself to sing and play, so music
school was never an option. It was only while at art school that I began to
perform.

I went to art school in Glasgow because I
was interested in the environmental art course as something that looks at other
ways of engaging with an audience apart from the gallery space. Whilst there, I
studied with Tanya Eccleson, Justin Carter, Sue Brind and Ross Sinclair. 

Going to art school was great because it
made me think about who I was and what was important to me. I realised that my
connection with nature and music were the things that motivate me and I wanted
a way of combining those things. I started to experiment with playing outside,
listening to and imitating the sounds around me that in my ears, were all
music. When we look at the world, our sense of vision emphasises the distinct
boundaries between phenomena, whereas the sounds that things make are often not
so distinct and sometimes the experience of listening is often one of
perceiving the inseparability of phenomena. So, I guess I like to create sound
worlds that attempt to dissolve certain distinctions between humans, the
environment and animals.

There’s a thought-provoking essay on your
site (by you) on the role of art in ecological sustainability and environmental
change. Are those ideas you continue to deal with in your work? If so, how do
you do that?

I wrote that essay while I was at art
school, where I became very interested in art that can help to create
social/ecological change. There are certain artists around the world who seek
to use their art as means to create pragmatic change, for example to restore
contaminated land and habitats. I really believe in this work, for example the
work of Mel Chin, Alan Sonfist and Helen Mayer, and Newton Harrison. I began to
try and work in a similar way, but felt trapped in politics and felt
disconnected in some ways to the things that really inspire me.

In this time of ecological crisis, I think
it is also important to embrace the tools that we have to remind us of the
sacred. Music or sound are my tools and I have discovered that aural and
musical metaphors can provide us with a means to describe the world in ways
that remind us of our physical connection to the environment. Within my work
now, I seek to find a sonic space where I can almost transcend my humanness or
my sense of self in order to feel a deeper connection, either with other
people, or another species or a particular environment.

{mosimage}Your band, Nalle, released its first album
(By Chance Upon Waking) in 2006. You sing
partially in Finnish, you play the kantele (a traditional Finnish instrument),
and your music fits in nicely with the current Finnish folk scene. Were you
influenced by Finnish folk music? Who are some of your other influences?

On that album I actually don’t sing in
Finnish, but for some reason in some reviews it says that I do. When we play
live I do sing one traditional gypsy song in Finnish (Voi Ruusuni), which we
are currently recording as part of the new album to come out on Locust Records later
this year.

I picked up a kantele when I was living in
Pispala and started recording with it, enjoying the way the wood sits in my
hands and its pure sound. I like the kantele as an instrument and its symbolic
significance in folklore. I have not heard many recordings that use traditional
musical forms, except for PRIMO’s Bear Feast (Karhu Juhla), which I think has
definitely been an influence. I also have a great album of wax cylinder
recordings made in the first part of the 20th century. I like the
simple pentatonic melodies and I love the stories. I have also listened to a
fair bit of Finnish gypsy music and met some great players on my travels.

Other influences range from traditional
folk music from many parts of the world, music of the 60s and 70s folk revival,
60s drone music, free or improvised music and music of the birds.

People have compared you to Joanna Newsom
and Björk, but I find your vocal
experimentation unique. Can you share something about your singing aesthetic?

Yes, that comparison is made too often! I
find this question quite difficult to answer because I don’t really think about
it – I just sing! It is just what feels like the most natural form of
expression. I try to expand the range of sounds I make so that I use my voice as
an instrument and I sing with words to tell stories.

Metal God’s predictions

“I love
Finland. I was there recently, a couple of weeks ago. I visited to some Finnish
friends who are helping me to put my future website together,“ KK says.

{mosimage}Let us know more
about Violent Storm project, where you recently got pretty involved.

We were on
tour in America,
with Judas Priest, and we had a couple of tours in Miami. We met Mick Cervino there.
Later I met him again in Barcelona.
We went there to see Yngwie Malmsteem´s show. He asked me to play a
couple of songs in his album. Nobody has offered me that before. I said
“maybe”, and when he sent me the record I thought it was pretty cool. So I
played the solo guitars guitar solos and then slowly I got more and more
involved

Did you
enjoy the experience?

Yeah, it was
very interesting to see the whole process. I was not there from the very
beginning, otherwise I could have had even more input. It was a lot of hard
work in the end but I think that for a first album, it sounds good.

They are
going to be touring pretty soon. Any chance you can appear as guest musician in
any gig?

I suppose
that at some point we are going to be on stage with them at a festival or big
concert, so anything can happen.

It would be nice
to see you on stage with them.

Yeah, maybe
they could even open for Judas Priest. You never know what is going to happen. I
think that they would work very well as a support band for Judas or for others
like Black Sabbath.

It was
recently confirmed that they will play at the Sauna Open Air festival next
summer in Tampere, where
Black Sabbath guys will play as well.

I am looking
forward to seeing the band live. After delivering a good record, you have to be
able to show that you can deliver a good live show too.

Focusing on
Judas Priest, the launching of the new album about
Nostradamus is coming
closer. Why this turn toward a conceptual album?

It is a very
good challenge for us. In Judas Priest, we have never been too afraid of
pushing the boundaries and trying new things. We always thought that if we can
bring a wider audience to metal, that's a good thing, because it makes this
kind of music stronger, and this is good for other bands as well. People
complain that heavy metal is boring, but it is funny that every year, the same
classic metal bands are the ones that have the biggest headlines in the festivals.
All in all, Judas Priest are very proud of what we have achieved, and not only
from our band, but also from other bands.

Do you have
any information about the releasing date of the album?

Not yet. For
the moment it is going exceptionally well. We are working very hard on it and
hopefully it will be released soon.

What is the
story behind your first guitar and
Michael Schenker?

U.F.O. was playing on a Saturday night,
this was years and years ago, and I think that Michael saw the flying guitar
that I had, in a little shop window, and the shop was obviously closed because it
was at week end. He went back to London,
and came back to Birmingham
to buy the guitar, but I had bought the same guitar that morning on Monday. So
later when I saw him in Los Angeles,
he told me “That's the guitar that should have been mine!” I said: "too
bad, it's mine now!" That particular guitar… Gibson only made 117
worldwide in 1969, so they were quite rare.

So Michael
has kept reminding you about this every time you met later?

Yes, of
course, yeah. I said: "if I go to my grave first, Michael, I will leave it
to you in my will!"

You also
like collecting cars. If they offer you a choice between a nice guitar and a
nice car, what would you take?

The car! I
can play a cheap guitar, that's fine, but I would take the nice car!

Is true that
Julio Iglesias, the legendary Spanish singer, and Judas Priest
collaborated together once?

Yeah, it is
true. We were recording in Miami,
and Julio came to the studio where we were rehearsing. I think that we released
the song in the bonus track of the Remasters.

He was a
very nice guy indeed. One day a big truck arrived outside the studio, and then
a brand new Ferrari come out of the vehicle: a present for “Mr Iglesias”, sent
by the record company for selling so many records. He got in the car, drove around
the block, and said “too fast for me, I will give it to my son”. I said: "I
will take it, Julio, that's fine for me!"

I want to
see one day that I am in the studio and a truck comes with a Ferrari for me!

We work hard
for it.

 

You only
need to sell some more million albums, KK…

An easterly breeze hits Kiasma

Along with China's economic miracle and recent
development in the region as a whole, Asian contemporary art is on the rise as
well. Biennials and art festivals are numerous and ever growing and there's
increasing international interest – enough to constitute something of a boom in
Asian contemporary art. Kiasma's exhibition brings an interesting selection of
works to Helsinki.
”The purpose of this exhibition is not to cover the whole field of contemporary
art in Asia, but rather to present visitors with perspectives on it”, says
senior curator Marja Sakari from
Kiasma.

 

{mosimage} 

 

”The
three countries represented in the exhibition are quite different, but they
also share several characteristics, such as mounting pressure for change, vast
population, political conflicts and natural disasters, which cause these
societies to be in a constant state of transformation. There are questions of
how an individual fits into the larger scheme of things. All this in turn is
reflected in the artists' interpretation of their surrounding reality”, Sakari
tells us. Also in common are powerful traditions. Beneath contemporary
political and social preoccupations with global consumer culture and
modernisation, traditional culture and spirituality are present in many of the
works displayed.

Shanghai,
a swiftly growing urban expanse afflicted by an enormous population and a
building frenzy which leaves little trace of the city's vernacular history, is
home to two of the artists. Photographer Hu Yang lets us peek inside Shanghai households in
his photo series Shanghai Living,
which features ordinary Shanghainese from all walks of life photographed in
their living spaces with a short interview attached. The series offers a
compelling inside view of the human consequences of recent development in the
city's infrastructure and social fabric. Also hailing from Shanghai is Yang Zhenzhong, who represents a
new generation of Chinese artists who've grown up during China's open
door policy and economic prosperity and are well acquainted with new media and
technology.

Indonesia's
colonial past and history of 
authoritarian regimes is reflected in works by Yogyakartan artists Heri
Dono and Eko Nugroho, who deal with issues of political pressure and social
control with equally playful yet ambiguous ways. Since the fall of Suharto in
1998 there have been significant changes in Indonesia's political system but
images of oppression and blind faith in authorities are nevertheless vivid in
their art. Many of Dono's installations include puppet-like sculptures with
some robotic features producing sound and movement. The complex installation Political clowns represents his brand of
satire: a series of clown-faces with tubes drip-feeding urine to their heads.

Some
of the most puzzling and fascinating works are by Chinese artist Chen Zhen, who
died in 2000. Zhen moved to Paris
in 1986 and made most of his career in the west. Many of his works contemplate
on broad humanistic themes, but also on Asian art as part of the whole
international sphere of contemporary art. In fact, all the participating
artists are to some degree integrated into the international art world, but
mostly maintain focus on their local Asian realities and often draw on
traditional art forms. The surging popularity of Asian artists calls to
question our entrenched notions of the centre and periphery of contemporary art
in a most welcome manner.

           

The exhibition Wind from the East – Perspectives on Asian Contemporary Art opens
Feb 17 at Kiasma museum of contemporary art.

Interview with Eko Nugroho

Your home city Yogyakarta is said to have a
thriving contemporary art scene beyond any other city in Indonesia. What makes
it so special?

A number of
reasons. The Indonesian Art Institute is in Yogyakarta, and so many artists
come there to study. There's a lot of history there, a lot of culture and
tradition and people appreciate art more. Generally the atmosphere is really
creative. There's a lot of public art on the streets. Not just graffiti and
tags et cetera, but also plenty of legal street art, all kinds of different
things.

Is that how you got started, doing street art?

Yes. When I
was growing up there were graffiti groups and street artists in Yogyakarta who
were sort of competing with each other. Some were graffiti kings, you know,
interested in spray-paint, tags and slogans. But the group I ran with was into
more visual and artistic expression. I like to do art in public, for people to
experience outside the museums and galleries. Also the murals, I like to do
them in public and invite people to watch and participate. I did one in Berlin,
which was really lovely, they gave me a big building neighboured by graffiti
everywhere.

You're painting a mural here in Kiasma. What's
the main idea behind this one?

It's called
Pleasure under pressure, it's about
how living in Indonesia you're are always surrounded by political things; even
if you don't choose political subjects, the media and everyday life are
constantly full of politics. It's about the political situation in Indonesia,
but it's not attacking things directly. It's softly critical, for people to
recognise what's happening around them.

{mosimage}Is it hard to be an openly political artist in
Indonesia?

The
political situation is changing all the time, mostly for the better, but after
the previous regime people want things to get better fast. And a lot of things
still remain, corruption and political power centres. The people are really
politically active, calling out for things and being vocal with their opinions.
For artists, however, open criticism that's too direct is not permitted. You
know 70% of the people are Muslim and some of them want an Islamic state, but
not everyone is happy with that. There's a lot of tension between politics,
society and culture.

Can you tell us a little about your work with
comics?

I do some
comics on my own but mainly I work with a collective called Daging Tumbuh (Diseased Tumour). We
compile art from contributors: comics, illustrations et cetera, all
photocopied. Ordinary people can write or paint about their personal things and
so on. Every six months we publish a new issue, only 150 copies or so, which is
circulated from hand to hand on the streets.

Sounds very underground. You're also connected
to the world of institutionalised art, museums and galleries. Do you think it's
important to keep in touch with the underground?

There's a
lot you can do only in the underground, like criticise certain things in
society. In Indonesia the political situation is getting better, but there's
still a lot of narrow-mindedness and social pressure, and that's exactly what
I'm critical of in my work. Also, I like to be in contact and communicate with
people, hear their stories and experiences.

Some of your works include embroidery. How did
you get interested in that?

Some time
in 1999 there were a lot of social problems with urban youths and they formed
street gangs. It was a part of their fashion to have a cool embroidery on the
back of their leatherjackets. The gangs vanished after 2000, but they inspired
me because in their way they were rebelling against the system. Later I found a
small town in Java called Tasikmalaya, which was famous for embroideries, and I
studied it there myself. Nowadays I have skilled craftsmen do most of the big
ones for me based on my design.

Museum of Gallen-Kallela

{mosimage}The floor
in the main atelier is made of tarred wooden blocks, a durable style imitated
from factories. In the glass vitrines by the wall there is a collection of old
oil paint tubes and brushes. Gallen-Kallela wanted the windows in the ceiling of
his atelier to point to the north, in order to lay a perfect indirect light for
painting all day long. When climbing up the staircase to the tower, and passing
by the bathroom with windows, you can imagine how the family members would
observe the atelier while having a bath.

An
adventurous and cosmopolitan artist, Akseli Gallen-Kallela felt at home
everywhere. He lived and worked in Paris, North America and east Africa. He
loved his home country deeply, and explored the roots of Finnish mythology during
long trips in Karelia. He constantly searched
for something genuine and exciting; native Indians in North America, and
kikujus in the present day Kenya. Thus he is often defined as a ´national
cosmopolite´. For Finns, he is most known as the illustrator of the characters
in Kalevala, the Finnish National Epic.

The
artist was an important influencer during the ‘Golden Era of Finnish Art’
between 1880-1910, along with Albert Edelfelt and Helene Schjerfbeck, amongs
others. During these Golden years, the ruling art tendencies were realism,
symbolism and above all national romance, as a result of the Finnish national
spirit raising its head before the independence.

Not only
a painter, Gallen-Kallela was also known for his graphics and furniture design
skills. For the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900 he had designed most of the
furniture and textiles for the Finnish pavilion, for which he was awarded and recognised
internationally. The fair is considered to be the first occasion when such a concept
as Finnish design was launched.

Often
many of Gallen-Kallela’s privately-owned paintings and the treasure-like
material he brought back from his trips are exhibited in the museum. Currently,
the museum hosts an exhibition of expressionist art entitled ‘Wound’ which is
on display until the 20th of May. Many of the pieces of art are created by
contemporary Finnish artists, such as Elina Merenmies or Mari Sunna. This
exhibition focuses on the personal and subjective experiences of the self, an
exposition concept envisioned by the painter Henry Wuorila-Stenberg.

After the
tour in the museum you can sip a coffee in the original Finnish wooden villa,
where the artist and his family used to live before building the stone castle
next to it.

 

Running to the limit

Where were
you born?

In Oulu. I
moved to the capital some years ago to study.

Do you like
living here in Helsinki?

Yeah. The
first months I missed my home city a lot. I was even visiting the Railway
Station just to watch at the trains departing to Oulu. But after some months, I
started to work in Linnänmäki amusement park and it became more fun.

What do you
like doing in the capital when you have free time?

I like
running around, especially on summer. When I was younger I trained hard in
athletics, but now I can just open my eyes and enjoy the landscape. I have
recently discovered the Punavuori area, which is really nice.

How do you
deal with your studies at Helsinki University?

I am a bit
ashamed because I still have to finish my thesis and I have not talked to my
supervisor… I am so busy that I don’t know when I am going to have time to
complete it…

What is the
thesis topic about?

It has to do
with the devil.

What book
have you read lately?

Markku
Pääskynen´s Vihan Päivä

What place
in Finland would you recommend to visit?

{quotes}Oulu, of
course!{/quotes}

Do you feel
nervous about the critiques?

It is the scariest part of being a writer
for me. I have read three bad critiques, and three good ones.

Your reaction about the bad ones?

They were right on some points. I tried to
read them from that angle, but it was hard for me as well.

In your book, how can you imagine being
under the skin of a man who makes love to a woman?

I have only one answer, it is a cryptic
answer, I said that I know my own parts because he is “me” at that time in the
process of writing, so everything feels right and natural.

What is the future for Riikka Pulkkinen?

There are different kinds of projects. I am
going to be on TV for the whole spring. It is kind of a talk show called Kuka, mitä, häh.

Pedro Juan’s dirty Havana

FREE! Magazine had the honour to get an exclusive interview with one of the hottest contemporary authors in Latin American: Pedro Juan Gutierrez. A writer whose style, full of passion, sex, visceral, raw, harsh but also hugely beautiful, creates equally love and hate among his readers.

Pedro Juan kindly answered our questions while staying in Colombia for some days, out of his beloved city. "I always have a nice relationship with journalists. I was one for 26 years, and I know how agonizing this job can be, but also how rewarding in other occasions", he recalls.

When you published Dirty Havana Trilogy, in 1998, you recognised that it was a very hard
time in your life, very depressing, almost with suicidal tendencies. What do you feel now when you look back on that period?

I try to forget the past and not to be afraid of what the future will bring. I just try to enjoy the moment, be calmer.

Pedro Juan Gutierrez

That book has a high degree of autobiography, hasn’t it?

Yes, it is almost an autobiography, but not totally. I think that many readers, after the second time they go through my works, start to understand that the real “leit motiv” of my books is poverty more than sex.

Your books have a very aggressive style. There are ideas poured against almost everything in politics, philosophy, religion… How are they received in Cuba?

Well, they are not received well, nor badly. The point is actually that they are not published here. There are only some selected titles that circulate with a small number of copies. But I think that the new generation, young people with no prejudices, like them very much. Many times they circulate from hand to hand.

I see some features in your work that reminds me of Guillermo Cabrera Infante´s masterpiece Infante's Inferno. Have you read that book?

No, I have never read that book. In Cuba you cannot find his works. As simple as that. If he would have won the Nobel Prize, no Cuban would have known about it. When he died, nobody even published a short article in the press. But I like very much his book Three Trapped Tigers.

“I have had sex with more than 2.000 women in my life”

What contemporary authors do you read?

I am interested in Richard Ford, Carver, Houllebeck, Guillermo Arriaga, Fernando Vallejo and some others.

You have worked in many different jobs, met many people and gone through many experiences. How do you face life when you get up every morning?

I learn new things every day, I am like a child. I still get amazed about many things and I try to understand them better. Now for example in Colombia I was carrying out a poll about silicone implants. It has become very popular here among women, they do it everywhere, in their tits, lips, ass, and cheeks. It is fascinating to hear
what they have to tell.

Going through your work, we can appreciate that you must have had many experiences and success with women. Have you found often real love, or has it been more about frantic sex like in your books?

I have had sex with more than two thousand women in my life. A bit excessive maybe. Real love…only with five or six… and I feel very bad when everything is over. A female Finnish journalist, whose name I do not remember now, interviewed me in La Havana not long time ago. She was very friendly. She tried to link all this behaviour to former psychological problems with my mother and father.

Pedro Juan

Would you be able to live in another place, different from Havana?

Moving to somewhere else? No, never! Well, maybe Spain. I would not like to live in a place with a different language.

Have you ever been in Finland? What do you know about this country?

Yes, I was invited to Helsinki and Lahti some years ago. I gave a speech for two minutes, and the other five days I was walking around the beautiful lakes and forests. I had a very nice romance with a sweet Finnish woman who cultivated aromatic herbs, and I enjoyed sauna. Lahti was an unforgettable experience. I would love to go back, but I suppose that warm woman does not live there anymore, because the world is not a perfect place.

“I suffer from censorship in Sweden. Publishing houses do not want to publish my books there”

In your book Tropical Animal (Etelän Peto), the main character also had a romance with a Swedish woman: Agneta. Is the inspiration coming also from a real story?

Yes. Agneta, with another real name, really exists. She is a real woman. I lived in Sweden in 1999
for three months, and everything happened just as it is told in the book. She felt betrayed at the beginning, but later, she understood that a writer is always a bit of a “son of a bitch”, not always a nice human being, and she accepts me the way I am. Publishing houses in Sweden, in revenge, do not publish my books. I suffer from censorship in Sweden, and I think that they are really stupid because they are missing very good books that are already published in twenty other countries.

What are the future perspectives for Pedro Juan?

Like everybody else: projects. The first one is to live a relaxed life, and have fun whenever I am able to. Life is a great crazy adventure, funny, unpredictable…  Time flies, and without realising about it, we have become old, and we cannot fuck anymore, or drink, or smoke, and the women look at us like if we were old grandpas. Shit, what a horror!

Colours of the world

 

Dusty
villages, hopeless teenagers, old dancing wizards, corrupted school
principals…a tough reality. From eight different countries of Sub-Saharan
Africa, 22 contemporary short films and documentaries will arrive in Tampere
for the annual film festival. The majority originate from Zimbabwe and Uganda
where a growing film industry is organizing an impressive amount of new
international festivals.

As one
might expect, this “black cinema” is still rudimentary in structure and in
style. It’s a developing cinema. Nevertheless, it tells strong and intense
stories that will help European audiences understand the African reality. The
variety of themes is outstanding too. Tawanda Gunda’s Peretera Maneta (Spell my
Name
, Zimbabwe, 2005) is a tough tale about child abuse, while Caroline
Kamya’s Rockmilley (2006) portrays
Uganda’s only Elvis Presley impersonator.

During the
festival, the warm colours of Africa will fade into the white and grays of the
North. Those colours will be the background for the traditional clothes of the
Sami people. There will be a retrospective of the films made by the Sami, with
special focus on the works of Paul-Anders Simma. Those screenings will be
celebrated with concerts, including a performance of Amoc, the first rapper in
Sami language.

Not only
exotic cultures will be represented, since well-known directorial names like
Aki Kaurismäki and Krzystof Kieslowski will also have some screen time too.
Kieslowski’s documentaries from the ‘60s and the documentary work of fellow
Polish filmmaker Kazimierz Karabasz will also be shown in Tampere. Kaurismäki’s
fans will also be able to enjoy the early works and short movies of the Finnish
master.

 

{mosimage}

 

Avant-garde from France

Last year’s
winner of the Grand Prix of the Tampere Film Festival, the young French
filmmaker, Jean-Gabriel Périot will return to Tampere for a retrospective of
his work. Périot represents an avant-garde form of documentaries and short
films. He creates hypnotic series of images of roads and paths (Dies Irae) or
digs in the archives to document shameful historical moments with sharp editing
and a full load of political commentary.

How would
you describe your filming technique?

I use
different kinds of techniques. For example, for a movie like Even If She Had Been a Criminal…, I
used classical techniques of editing created by Russian avant-garde, especially
by Dziga Vertov. For movies like Dies
Irae
, it's very specific because it's something like animation that creates
movements by accumulation of images. However, I didn't create the images, I
used archives. The rendering of a movie like this is made by the very fast
editing of the pictures, but like there is always the same element in the
picture, such as a road, something happened between the animation of the road
and the flow of the entire pictures.

Does it
take very long to find the appropriate materials (film and photos) in the
archives?

Yes, very
long, because I use a lot of archives – something like 10,000 pictures for Dies Irae, for example. However, I know
where find them and which picture or movie I could use regarding author's
rights and copyright laws.

What are
your motivations to create those political films?

I don't
find our world particularly peaceful and I'm afraid whether soon it will be
worthwhile. As we are too few to start the revolution, making movies is my way
to do something!

 

Iskelmä hero travels to Memphis

Traveling
to Memphis and Graceland is a pilgrimage. It is the same trip he did many years
ago before he joined the army to complete his military service and now the same
trip has been documented by filmmaker Ari Martikainen in Yhden Tähden Hotelli (One
Star Hotel
), which opens in cinemas on March 2nd.

 

Kääriäinen
is one of the youngest singers of the 1970's “Finnhits” generation. Born in
1961, he headed his first band when he was 15, but would not make his big breakthrough
until 1992 when he joined the band Agents, which is an important part of iskelmä music.

Iskelmä is
the most genuine form of Finnish popular music. It is a style of melodic and
light popular songs, and the word means “hit”. Most Finns know the list of the
pop stars that kept the iskelmä tradition alive since the 1970s, with names
like Irwin Goodman, Frederik, Jari Sillanpää and Katri-Helena being some of the
most popular.

 

{mosimage} 

 

Along with
the documentary, the singer is releasing his third solo album, also with the
title Yhden Tähden Hotelli. The first
single is Yksinäisten Miesten Kanjoni (Lonely Men Canyon) and the album features a full-size
orchestra conducted by Riku Niemi. For his previous album, Onnenlantti, Jorma Kääriäinen realized a live-long dream by recording
in Nashville and at Sun Studios in Memphis.

Ari
Martikainen’s film draws a portrait of the different sides of the singer. The
movie follows Kääriäinen’s path from Lapland to Memphis, and to the backstage
of Finnish dance halls. It is a deep, although warm and humorous, analysis of
the traveling musician.

Although
Agents have decided to have a break for an undetermined time, Jorma Kääriäinen
will tour Finland during the spring and summer with the orchestra of Riku Niemi.
Either attending one of his shows or watching the documentary is the perfect opportunity
to discover this one particular Finnish crooner.

That weird guy and his noise

{mosimage}Although
born in Vilppula and educated in art in Lahti, Anssi lives and works in the
remote village of Sahalahti, where he finds strange stories and inspiration
from which to compose his music. Storytelling is a fundamental part of Anssi’s
songs and shows, yet the odd stories and rudimentary instrumentation – thanks
to homemade and worn out equipment – makes him look like a weird troubadour of
modernity.

Where is
the drummer? There isn’t a drummer. Anssi simultaneously plasy guitar and
drums, producing crude tunes, which sometimes sound as though The White Stripes
are playing Nirvana songs. On stage and on the album, he is occasionally joined
by Miss Hot Coke, who brings some syntheziser, backing vocals and maracas,
hi-hat or tambourine to the ensemble. This addition sweetens the compositions
and stresses the pop sensibility of the melodies, which is like comparing Nico
to The Velvet Underground.

“Kyklops
vs. Svesse was recorded over long three days with short breaks for pizza,”
according to producer Arttu Tolonen’s notes. The first day was used for
recording the basic instruments and during the second day was dedicated to
vocals: “Stick him in a booth with a mic, press record and let him yell.” The final
day of recording served for overdubs and Miss Hot Coke’s deft touch.

To add a
splash of extravagancy to the recording, Mexican artist Gustavo Artigas, as a
DJ, introduces the recording with not so pleasant words towards the music
industry, although you need to know Spanish to understand the intro track.

Is Gaia angry at us?

You have probably heard about the Gaia Theory, whose name was
given by the famous writer William Golding, but who is the man behind
it? His name is Lovelock, James Ephraim Lovelock and he happens to be one of the most controversial scientists of contemporary
times…

 

NASA's genius inventor

Lovelock was born on July 26th, 1919, in Letchworth Garden City in the
United Kingdom. His curriculum is quite impressive: He graduated as a chemist
from Manchester University in 1941 and in 1948 received a Ph.D. Degree in Medicine
from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 1959, he also received
a D.Sc. Degree in Biophysics from London University.

{mosimage}
However, his major achievements began the following decade when
collaborating with NASA. “In 1961, having heard of these new detectors, NASA
invited me to join with the team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who were
developing lunar and planetary landers,” he explains. “Initially, the
invitation concerned the development of methods for analysing lunar soil but
soon I became involved with NASA's quest to discover whether there was life on
Mars.”

Lovelock has developed more than 50 patents of different gadgets, mostly
for detectors for use in chemical analysis, and NASA has even used some of his
inventions in different explorations. One of these, the electron capture
detector, was key in the development of environmental awareness, since it
revealed for the first time the ubiquitous distribution of pesticide residues
and other halogen bearing chemicals. It has also helped to discover more about
the levels of nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. This
information enabled Rachel Carson to write her famous book Silent
Spring, a milestone in understanding and raising the awareness of
environmental problems in society.

His proposed approach to searching for life on Mars, based only on
chemical analysis of the Martian atmosphere, led to reflections about the
utterly different and remarkable atmosphere of our own planet. The stable
persistence in the Earth’s atmosphere of gases that quickly react with each
other could only be possible with some kind of ‘control system’, thus the Gaia
hypothesis was born.

 

From hypothesis to theory

So what is the Gaia Theory about? In Lovelock’s own words, “Gaia
is a theory about the Earth. It sees it as a self-regulating system keeping its
climate and its chemistry always comfortable for whatever is the contemporary
biosphere. Its major difference from older evolutionary theories, such as
Darwinism, is that it sees organisms not just adapting to the environment, but
changing it as well.”

Encouraged by Margulis, the theory was first publicly mentioned
in an article by Lovelock: Gaia as seen through the atmosphere in the Journal
Atmospheric Environment and was totally ignored during the first years
until publication in 1975's book The Quest for Gaia.

It is curious that the name of the theory did not come directly from
Lovelock, but from his good friend and neighbor, the famous writer, William
Golding. He commented to Lovelock that if he would have ever had a good theory
about the Earth, he had to find a suitable name and there was nothing better
than the Greek goddess Gaia.

 

Let’s go nuclear!

If you expect that Lovelock had softened his position and ideas with the
age, you could not be more wrong. Quite the opposite, the English scientist, now
in his 80s, has become even more aggressive in his words with the passage of
time. His most recent book The Revenge of Gaia, which offers quite a
pessimistic view of the heating process that the Earth has been suffering, is good
proof of his unwavering opinions.

Lovelock does not see much hope in a continuation of the balance on
Earth. Our planet will become more inhospitable during the next 100 years, and
natural disasters will lead to most of the human civilization perishing. However,
Lovelock sees this apocalyptical future as just a natural way, “Too little too
late? It may be too late to save civilization, but people will survive and
there will be another one.”

As almost the only solution, Lovelock energetically defends nuclear
power as the most effective way to solve problems, thereby following the French
model. He considers that people’s fears of nuclear power are unreasonable.

 

Controversial figure

Often, Lovelock’s theories are criticized and people are advised to
approach his theories with sceptism. For example, even though he invented the
machine that helped us understand the dangers of CFCs, he also dismissed those
dangers by arguing that they couldn't do enough damage to matter. Sherry
Rowland and Mario Molina received the Nobel Prize for continuing
their research and ignoring Lovelock’s lack of concern, highlighting the fact
that the science community does not take his theories for granted.

His thoughts have encouraged open debate and there are many recognized figures
who openly disagree with him, such as For Doolittle and even Stephen
Hawkins himself. One thing is for sure though, the Gaia Theory involves such deep and
controversial thoughts that it will continue to be discussed for many years to
comes…unless Lovelock’s worst predictions come to fruition.