Grand Prix Competition

THE 3 ROOMS OF MELANCHOLIA

MELANCHOLIAN KOLME HUONETTA



Pirjo Honkasalo

Country of production: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany
Year: 2004
Language: Russian, Chechen, Arabic, Finnish
Mins: 106

Production company: Millenium Film
Producer: Kristiina Pervila
Script: Pirjo Honkasalo
Cinematography: Pirjo Honkasalo
Editing: Niels Pagh Andersen, Pirjo Honkasalo
Sound: Mart Otsa, Kristiina Pervila, Jaak Elling

Source: First Run/Icarus Films, Inc.
32 Court Street, 21st Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Tel: 718-488-8900
Fax: 718-488-8642
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www.frif.com


Inspired by the commandment “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” this thought provoking, harrowingly beautiful essay ponders the cruel legacy of war. It focuses on the Russian – Chechen conflict and the children who constitute its most vulnerable victims. The first section unfolds in a military academy for Russian boys on the island of Kronstadt, near St. Petersburg. The traumatized inmates (some orphans, some from broken homes) are trained as cold-blooded soldiers with Chechens as the imagined enemy. The second part shows images of devastated Grozny, the once thriving capital of Chechnya, where daily life is now an unimaginable struggle. We meet Hadizhat Gataeva, a Chechen woman whose personal mission is to rescue children from the ruined city. The final episode portrays the refugee camp in neighboring Ingushetia where Hadizhat cares for 63 young charges. Skillfully combining images, silence and music, this visual poem won the Human Rights Award at the Venice Film Festival for its strong message and exceptional artistic merit.

Pirjo Honkasalo was born in Helsinki in 1947. She entered film school at the age of 17 and completed her cinematographic thesis at the age of 21. In the same year she shot her first full-length film. She continued to study and worked as an assistant at the Temple University in Philadelphia.


Filmography

Under production 2004:
Terremoto
Betoniyö

The 3 Rooms of Melancholia (2003)
Fire-Eater (1998)
Mysterion: Part I: The Trilogy Of The Sacred And Satanic (1991)
Tanjuska and the 7 Devils Part II: The Trilogy Of The Sacred And Satanic (1993)
Atman Devils Part III: The Trilogy Of The Sacred And Satanic (1996)
Leonardo’s Windows (TV Drama) (1986)
Da Capo (1985)
250 Grams, a Radioactive Testament (1983)
Flame Top (1980)

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2005 AT 8.00 PM. / FACET CINEMATHEQUE
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 AT 7.00 PM. / FACET CINEMATHEQUE.