Upon discovering that Eurasian lynxes– hunted to near-extinction a century ago in Finland– have begun to prowl anew across his land, reclusive farmer Hannu sets up trail cameras to track the elusive wild cats he calls his friends: Joseph, Velvet Eyes, Grumpy Girl, and Spot. Hannu’s footage soon sees the night open up to all manner of delightful wildlife encounters: a fox frightened by geese; a moose’s stand-off with a mirror; lynx cubs trailing after their mother in single file. Inspired by this indirect contact with the animals he has sworn to protect, Hannu dons a whittled lynx mask and enacts a few playful, primal rituals of his own in the moonlight, where the distinctions between man and beast begin to blur.
Director Juha Suonpää’s projections of trail footage over sauna smoke imbue this quirky documentary with a uniquely mesmerizing quality.
Grand Prix, Cinemambiente 2023
Series Media Partner
Finland/Estonia
2023
Insights
In Finnish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Pasi Hakkio, Niina Virtanen
Screenwriter
Juha Suonpää, Hanna Kaihlanen
Cinematography
Alexander Markus Lembke, Juha Suonpää
Editor
Tuuli Kuittinen, Hanna Kaihlanen
Original Music
Puuluup, Kimmo Helén, Tanel Kadalipp
Director
Photo by Juha Suonpää
Juha Suonpää
Juha Suonpää is an academic, photographer and filmmaker. Suonpää’s film Wolfman premiered in Visions Du Réel 2013. He continues to research and publish in the field of photography, visualizing science and the construction of the identity of a place.
Filmography: Vuores (2000); Wolfman (2013)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg's gripping war movie was hailed as an instant classic in 1998, and he won his second Academy Award in five years for Best Director. Matt Damon takes the title role, Tom Hanks is charged with bringing him home from the front.
Palimpsest: The Story of a Name
Drawing on home movies and diaries from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, Canadian filmmaker Mary Stephen (Eric Rohmer's editor for many years) investigates the origins of her surname. After all, she was born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents. Or were they... ?
Searching for Satyrus
Award-winning filmmaker and photographer Rena Effendi embarks on a quest to track down the very rare Satyrus Effendi, a butterfly discovered by her father in the mountains of Aberbaijain. But what she finds is altogether more personal, and more upsetting.
Rushmore
Precocious Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is befriended by depressed industrialist Harold Blume (Bill Murray) until they both fall in love with first grade teacher Miss Cross (Olivia Williams). Anderson's second feature is an old favourite.
