LEIKKEJÄ ELÄVILLE

Finland

Documentary

In a forest, three elderly sisters are playing hide-and-seek. As the play goes on, time starts to lose its linearity, and past selves merge with present ones. What follows is an odyssey through dreams and memories. A hallucinatory exploration of time and collective imagination.

Written, directed & produced by: Saarlotta Virri
Cinematography: Annika Miettinen
Editing: Saarlotta Virri
Original Score: Io Pettersson
Sound: Heta-Maria Pyhäjärvi, Laura Torkkola, Saku Anttila
Cast: Tiina Jakkila-Parkkinen, Eeva-Kaisa Jakkila, Raija Gunnarsson, Pirkko Nyström, Hannele Rautiola, Pirkko Nyström, Hannele Rautiola

Statement of the director:
IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS THERE WAS SHAPE delves into the obscure recesses of childhood, where the echoes of half-remembered rhymes and lullabies linger like fragments of a shared past. The inspiration for this film emerged from a desire to explore the profound entanglement of lives shaped by collective childhood memories and to examine how it would feel like to go back to the childhood forest and start playing again. Could it help us to reconnect?
The essence of the film lies in its celebration of a life spent together, weaving a tapestry of intertwined recollections and the blurred boundaries between individual and shared experiences.
As the director, I sought to liberate myself from the constraints of rationality and traditional narrative logic, allowing the film to unfold in a manner reminiscent of a child’s game. In this realm, things have a tendency of subtly transform into something else, roles can change in an instant and different times coexist. The film is a journey through play – a fleeting glimpse into the world of childhood imagination and an encounter with the end of life.

Production:
TMI Saarlotta Virri
https://postpost.nu/shape

Selected at Riga International Film Festival