A couple of years ago, I found a family archive of photographs and other documents from the 1970’s that concerned the Finnish Communist movement “taistolaisuus”. This is when the short film Singing for Lenin got started. As I browsed through the pictures, I realized how distant the era seemed, even though there were many familiar faces in the photos. In this experimental film I will look at the movement with contemporary eyes. I wonder if my generation, who grew up in the 1980’s, could understand a time that ended before we were born and that still divides opinions so strongly. The screenplay of my film is partly based on interviews with participants of the 70’s student movement.
The frame for the production of Singing for Lenin is Le Fresnoy, a post-graduate studio program for young artists in France. The film will be shot in the end of March in Finland and the post-production will take place in Le Fresnoy. The film will premiere in June 2014. Le Fresnoy partially funds the film and I have received a grant from AVEK – the Promotion Center for Audiovisual Culture. However, this is unfortunately not enough to complete the film. The production is not particularly expensive but it would be great if we didn’t have to compromise too much artistically or technically. We would still need more funds for renting the equipment and I would like to pay the participating professionals a decent fee for their work.
Fictional contemporary scenes and archive material alternate in the film. It pictures one day from dawn to dusk in an old summer cottage. The protagonists, two women and a man in their early 30’s and a six-year-old girl discuss an archive left by parents who were still young when they passed away. The characters go through old letters, photographs and other material from a time that seems distant but when talking to people who witnessed it they experience something familiar. The voices of former Communist activists tell about the events, each one from their own point of view. In the film, I look for a relationship with a period, that many have already tried to forget.
Thank you if you read this far! I hope you will participate and make the project possible. I am grateful for even a small support!
Kind regards,
Riikka Kuoppala, visual artist