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In-person

Veljko Vidak's Cinéma Laika: Screening and Director Q & A

2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107

206.789.5707

Join the National Nordic Museum for a special screening of documentary Cinéma Laika, followed by a discussion with director Veljko Vidak, moderated by Dr. Andrew Nestingen, Professor and Chair of the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington.

Synopsis

In the heart of the Finnish forest, the long-closed foundry of the little town of Karkkila has come back to life thanks to director Aki Kaurismäki and his creation of the town’s first cinema.

The peace and calm of the little town of Karkkila, nestled deep in the Finnish forest, is interrupted by unexpected sounds. In the abandoned foundry, noisy building work is taking place. Inside the building, Aki Kaurismäki is both builder and site manager of what is soon to become the Kino Laika cinema.

The creation of the cinema is the talk of the town. The locals take a close interest in the construction of this communal space, which will also feature a bar. Hopes for the town’s future are expressed and people begin to talk about cinema again.

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Speakers

Veljko Vidak

Veljko Vidak is a Croatian artist and Filmmaker. He grew up in the Dalmatian back country, dividing his time between school and work on the family farm.
Bio

Veljko Vidak

Veljko Vidak is a Croatian artist and Filmmaker. He grew up in the Dalmatian back country, dividing his time between school and work on the family farm.

When war broke out in ex-Yugoslavia, he was 17 years old. He managed to enroll in the University of History while preparing his application to the Academy of Fine Arts of Zagreb, where he would be graduated as a painter.

In 2004, he was awarded a grant that enabled him to go to Paris, at the Cité internationale des arts. Fascinated by the cultural effervescence of this city, which he had only visited in films, he chose to settle there permanently. He assiduously attended the Cinémathèque française and reinforced his cinephile culture.

In 2009 he moved for a time to Berlin. This saw him turn to video, making pieces on the themes of history and the subconscious. He exhibits regularly in France and his works have traveled the world.

On returning to Paris, he decided to deepen his knowledge of cinematographic techniques and began a master’s degree in film directing. He then made his first shorts and a medium length film.

Cinéma Laika is his first documentary feature.
Andrew K. Nestingen

Andrew K. Nestingen is Professor and Chair of the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington. Nestingen’s research is organized around the question: How does textual form figure in the way people construct, imagine, and regulate their social worlds?
Bio

Andrew K. Nestingen

Andrew K. Nestingen is Professor and Chair of the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington. Nestingen’s research is organized around the question: How does textual form figure in the way people construct, imagine, and regulate their social worlds?

His most recent book is The Cinema of Aki Kaurismäki: Contrarian Stories (2013), published in the Wallflower imprint of Columbia University Press. His Scandinavian Crime Fiction, co-edited with Paula Arvas, was published by the University of Wales Press in 2011. Other books of his include Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia: Fiction, Film, and Social Change (2008) published by the University of Washington Press in the New Directions in Scandinavian Studies series, and Transnational Cinema in a Global North: Nordic Cinema in Transition (2005), co-edited with Trevor Elkington. He has written articles on Aki Kaurismäki, Stieg Larsson, Leena Lehtolainen, Henning Mankell, Finnish cinema, Nordic cinema, and film authorship, among other topics. He is associate editor of the Journal of Scandinavian Cinema and review editor of Scandinavian Studies.