THE KING (2024, FIN)
2024 | 07:48 | D8 & 16mm| Finland
Film shot in directed by Milja Viita & Veli Granö. Edited by Milja Viita, sound design by Veli Granö
In 1975 Finnish singer Rauli Badding Somerjoki sent a recording of his local hit “Lights” to Elvis Presley, hoping his idol might take a liking to it. Badding got no answer but soon after Elvis passed away, rumors started spreading in Finland potatoes resembling Elvis were growing on a field in Badding’s home village of Somero. An experimental documentary about opportunities that never happened, and the remarkable link between world famous Elvis Presley and little-know Finn, Rauli Badding Somerjoki.
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Music for the S8 film: THE STAMMERING ALPHABET (2019, CAN)
2019 | 8 min | Super 8mm | Canada
Film shot and directed by Sharlene Bamboat & Terra Long. Original music by Milja Viita & Terra Long
Commissioned to make a Super 8 film in celebration of the 18th anniversary of the Echo Park Film Center in Los Angeles, Sharlene Bamboat and Terra Long each took a roll and began a correspondence. Fragments of text, drawings, and divination techniques were shared and translated into images. Chasing the ephemeral, building a language of collaboration, The Stammering Alphabet is a playful correspondence film. Milja Viita was invited to collaborate in music into the film.
Screenings
Echo Park Film Center 18th Anniversary
the8festsmallgaugefilmfestival
LA PRIMAVERA (2016, FIN)
2016 | loop | 16mm | silent | installation
Hand-painted 16mm film, projected with textile sculptures by Pauliina Turakka Purhonen in gallery Huuto. The collaboration was inspired on Sandro Botticelli´s painting La Primavera (1478)
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STILL LIFE WITH MARY (2011, POL & FIN)
2011 | 12min | 16mm | Poland, Finland
Film shot, processed and directed by Milja Viita. Original music by Aleksander Nowak & Juho Laitinen. Produced by POIKE/Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo for Turku 2011.
Comissioned to make a video concert in celebration of Turku 2011 – European Capital of Culture. Still Life with Mary Film was expecially made for the cello, by examining the rural landscape and villagers in south Poland through the lenses of Bolex. Not visualizing the music, but rather building an expanded diary of the specific days of the three strangers invited to work together.
Screenings
Sibelius museum, Turku
Pori Art Museum
MediaArt UP! exhibition in Cable Factory, Helsinki