Ilppo Pohjola | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 January 1957 Keuruu,Finland |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Education | American Film Institute,Sheridan College,Harrow College |
| Known for | Experimental Film,Video Art,Installation Art |
| Website | http://ilppopohjola.com/ |
Ilppo Anssi Pohjola (born 30 January 1957 inKeuruu) is an independent filmmaker, producer and artist based inHelsinki,Finland.[1] His international breakthrough wasDaddy and the Muscle Academy (1991), a documentary aboutTom of Finland. Pohjola has produced the cinematic installations and films byEija-Liisa Ahtila since 1993.[2]
Ilppo Pohjola works with the vocabulary of film, examining its structural and social elements in order to create a body of work that pushes the limits of the medium's physical possibilities. He works between the narrative tropes of Hollywood and the deconstructive methodologies of independent film.[3] The cumulative bodies of knowledge in Pohjola's works are noticeable for their crispness of conception and excess of information. Given his interest in the formal elements of filmmaking, the content of Pohjola's works are surprisingly physical and sensual, even if assaultive.[4] His filmDaddy and the Muscle Academy won theJussi Award for the best documentary film in Finland, 1991.
Ilppo Pohjola studied at theAmerican Film Institute in Los Angeles, USA and atSheridan College in Toronto, Canada. He graduated from Harrow College of Higher Education in London, UK in 1988.[5] He achieved international breakthrough with his first cinema feature, the 1991 documentaryDaddy and the Muscle Academy, featuring artist and gay culture iconTom of Finland.[6] The film received several awards including theJussi Award (the "Finnish Oscar") for the best documentary film.[7][8] In subsequent works Pohjola 'proved himself to be one of the most extraordinary avant-garde filmmakers of his day'.[6]
Pohjola's second film,P(l)ain Truth (1993), also a documentary but of a more poetic and metaphorical kind, is about atransgender person undergoing a sex reassignment operation.[9]Asphalto (1998), starringIrina Björklund andPeter Franzén, bridges the artist's interest in gender stereotypes and the erotics of the auto by shuffling footage of demolition derby, clips of pinup models in latex shorts bearing oil company logos, and moments with a young couple in relationship distress.[2]
The following film,Routemaster (1999) continues the exploration of the limits of classical film narrative by focusing on filmic movement in tandem with the speed of racing cars. Drawing from the tradition ofstructural film and the principles ofminimalist art,Routemaster uses repetition and rapid, complex editing to disrupt the flow of linear time and strict spatial continuity.[2][10]Routemaster was also presented as a multichannel installation in three different versions with live sound byMerzbow and sound designer Jim McKee.[11]
His latest work to date,1 plus 1 plus 1 – Sympathy for the Decay (2012) has been described as a "death triptych", combining themes and techniques used in his previous works to achieve agesamtkunstwerk.[12]
A recurring theme running through all of Pohjola's work is transformation – how a person can change from one gender to another (P(l)ain Truth), how flesh and steel can fuse in an apotheosis called the crash (Routemaster), what time and chemicals do to film images (1 Plus 1 Plus 1 – Sympathy for the Decay). What all these films have in common is their intoxicating imagery. Little that cinema has brought forth in the past quarter century leaves the viewer as ecstatic, agitated and euphoric as the films of Pohjola.[6]
In addition to directing and scriptwriting, Pohjola works as a producer and has through his company Crystal Eye producedEija-Liisa Ahtila's films and cinematic installations. He has directed several television documentaries and videos. Pohjola is also known as a photographer and a graphic artist.[13]
Works written and directed byEija-Liisa Ahtila:
Other:
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