This year’s festival trailer Mære opens with a nightmarish atmosphere. The sinister world of dreams is a recurring theme in director Matti Vesanen’s work. We talked with Vesanen about nightmares, the technical execution of the trailer as well as some beloved HIFF memories.

We are in a small studio apartment, perhaps in the eastern part of the city center. A tattooed figure lolls on a bed. The curtain of sleep is drawn as a small evil spirit raves across the chest of the protagonist and twiddles their teeth. The scene conjures up an association with Henry Fuseli’s painting The Nightmare (1781). The atmosphere is simultaneously eerie and slightly comic. Will the moment of awakening and redemption come? Will the angel take wing?

It may be that there is still some underlying nightmarishness that is now being unleashed through this idea.

The director of the trailer, Matti Vesanen (Veli Studio), says he has been interested in the theme of nightmares already in his earlier works.

“My first short film, Nightmare, also dealt with nightmares. The connection only became clear to me after the festival trailer was almost finished. I noticed that the same theme recurs and for some reason frequently returns in my work. I have always been fascinated by the dream world and especially by strong nightmares. When I was making Nightmare, I was going through a phase where I was having very intense nightmares almost every night. Fortunately, the restlessness of the nights has subsided, at least as I remember it. It may be that there is still some underlying nightmarishness that is now being unleashed through this idea.”

Vesanen expresses his desire to explore the theme of dreams in more depth in the future. He sees it as an opportunity to explore the dimensions of the human mind and the impact of fears on creativity.

The director himself, with his body and his room, is also present in the trailer in a surprising way. Vesanen’s animations are often based on motion capture, in which the movements of the real body are captured into digital form.

In his animations, Vesanen strives to create a mix of realism, a doll-like atmosphere and a cartoonish feel.

“In this project, for example, I did the twitching and standing up myself by recording the movement onto my computer and then refining these movements to fit the other characters and the digital space. The room shown on the trailer is a real room that I scanned using photographs and thus transformed it into my digital animation to achieve the feeling of a real space.”

In his animations, Vesanen strives to create a mix of realism, a doll-like atmosphere and a cartoonish feel.

“My goal is to use camera work and lighting to create a visual hybrid that combines the atmosphere of a dollhouse with the digital world in a unique way. I want the end result to capture the viewers’ imagination and set the mood for the next film to come.”

— one of my main sources of inspiration is the Ghost in the Shell anime created by Mamoru Oshii. It merges narrative, theme and visual style seamlessly.

A self-confessed film lover, Vesanen says he enjoys a variety of genres. The diverse range of films has also served as a source of inspiration.

“I admire Robert Eggers’ ability to tell stories and his original way of shooting, for example. I also appreciate how the animated Spiderverse films are able to use digital animation in new and exciting ways. But one of my main sources of inspiration is the Ghost in the Shell anime created by Mamoru Oshii. It merges narrative, theme and visual style seamlessly. It is a true masterpiece. I believe it is from this work that I have drawn the most profound influences for my own work.”

I vividly remember the first autumns, when I would always get a festival pass for myself and rush from screening to screening, immersed in the unique atmosphere created by both the films and the dark autumn evenings.

Vesanen has warm memories of HIFF that many growing up in the capital region can certainly relate to.

“The festival has meant a lot to me since I moved to Helsinki and started studying at the Torkkeli Upper Secondary School of Visual Arts. I vividly remember the first autumns, when I would always get a festival pass for myself and rush from screening to screening, immersed in the unique atmosphere created by both the films and the dark autumn evenings. I remember with special fondness the charming atmosphere and the variety of film experiences at the festival. One of the most memorable moments was the stunning one-shot film Victoria (HIFF 2015) by Sebastian Schipper. That film has left a deep impression on me, and it stands out as the most important cinematic experience of that period.”

Text: Inari Nikkanen

Translation: Annastiina Aff

See Vesanen’s other works here.