VisionAir- tuotantojen syntysanat lausuttiin vuonna 1991, jolloin aloitimme independent- lyhytelokuvien tuotannot.

ULTIMA THULE

For most people, the region above the Arctic Circle is a snowy, mountainous wilderness extending a long way to the Arctic Ocean. Half of this image holds true.

The northern dimension is very tangible here. In December and January, the region is in the tightening grip of the cold winter. However, the mercury does not dip quite as low as in

Alaska or Siberia, even though we are at the same latitude.

In February, the amount of light increases and suddenly the landscape is hijacked by blinding brightness. This light show of the early spring offers a taster of things to come, the northern summer’s sun, slowly waking the earth from frost.

This is how the summer of the last northern shore in Europe, Ultima Thule, begins.

AN ICE ADVENTURE

“Snow, snow, only snow, only snow all around..." say the lyrics of a popular song much loved in Finland.

Snow and ice are natural elements with which the Finns have a strong love-hate relationship - so they themselves claim. Some hate them, and others love them, more than anything.

For children the first snowfall of the year is generally a source of great joy, a much awaited occasion that brings with it plenty of winter games. Quite soon snowmen make their appearance out in the garden.

Even though snow and very low temperatures cause a lot of work and expense in Finland, the winter can turn adults into children, for a time at least.

WELCOME TO LAKELAND

Year after year travel advertisements have described Finland the land of a thousand lakes. In fact, this country is the land of more than 180,000 lakes.

Essential elements of Finland’s scenery are lakes and pools amid the forests, meandering rivers and raging rapids. You cannot miss them whatever means of transport you care to travel by. The water and the shoreline are never far from where you are.

HOW DO THEY LIVE ? - HOMES IN FINLAND

The old saying that a man's home is his castle neatly suits the Finnish view.

Finland's biggest wave of home building began in the 1940s, after the Second World War.

It can be seen in the houses typical of that period that were named "front-liner houses", after soldiers who had served in front-line combat.

Nowadays, Finns like their homes to be individualised.

But in spite of this there are timeless features in our domestic architecture that make it easily recognisable as Finnish. These include, of course, the sauna and the open fireplace, essential features of Finnish homes, ancient or modern.

Fifty per cent of Finnish homes are in apartment buildings - a big proportion by European standards. Another interesting feature is that the housing stock is very young.

“Architecture should always have a means of revealing an elemental link between a building and nature." said architect Alvar Aalto ( 1898 -1976 ). He understood the importance of the relationship between people and nature for personal wellbeing.

The extremes of climate in Finland - where the foundations of buildings must endure severe frost and walls must withstand rain, snow and very low temperatures, and then provide shelter against scorching sunshine - mean that architects face a big challenge in designing housing that embodies the qualities of good architecture defined by the architect Vitruvius in ancient Rome.

FINNISH LAPLAND - THE LAND OF MAGIC

Juuri valmistunut ohjelma, joka vie katsojan suoranaiselle elämysmatkalle Suomen Lappiin eri vuodenaikoina

THE SOUTH - WESTERN ARCHIPELAGO - A GIFT OF NATURE

Nimensä mukaisesti Suomen Saaristomeri on luonnon lahja Suomelle. Tutustumme tähän luonnon lahjaan kauniin kesäisen päivän aikana, maalla ja merellä.

Ohjelma on palkittu:
USA, Los Angeles, kesäkuussa 2006 Silver Screen Awardilla

Ohjelma on palkittu myös Hampurissa toukokuussa 2006 kahdella palkinnolla:
Intermedia Globe Silver Awardilla , sekä yhdysvaltalaisen Inforfilm Internationalin erikoispalkinnolla, The Inforfilm International Special Awardilla.

KOMIAN TÄHÄREN VAI TARKOOTUKSELLA

Etelä-Pohjanmaa erottuu kaikista Suomen maakunnista paitsi peltolakeuksien myös erinomaisen rakennuskulttuuriperintönsä vuoksi. Mahtavia kaksfooninkisia taloja, joita Kalevi Haapoja esittelee varmalla "pohojalaasmurtehella".

AESTHETIC DIALOQUES

Aesthetic dialoques on kokeellinen, moderni triloginen tanssivideoteos, joka kuvaa tanssijan vuoropuhelua perinteisen tehdastyön; Rautaruukin terästehdas, nykyarkkitehtuurin, Wetterhoffin uusi päärakennus ja luonnon kanssa.

TIME TO ENJOY

"Rapu, rapu, rapu, rapu rallaa " This is a program of the Finnish crayfishes. In this film you can also sit down and have a feast at which cooked crayfish is served Kippis - to crayfishes !

NORTHERN IMAGES

Finland’s nature is amazingly rich. Its many faces make one stop and think. Its many forms make one wonder, year after year.

In this program we can see and wonder how spring arrives, when the first rays of the sun start to warm the ground. As the temperature rises and waters are freed from the grip of ice, the first buds emerge on the coltsfoot and after just a few warm days the ground shines as if covered with miniature suns. Quite soon, the nights recede, the days grow longer and the earth again dons its white apparel of bird cherry, apple and rowan blossom. Finland’s glittering summer has arrived.

This program is like a praise to the Finnish flowers and to our four seasons. You can also enjoy of one of the most famous, old , poets Eino Leino`s poems with his two lovely poems Song of Spring and Peace. Also in Chinese -version !

IN THE FINNISH FASHION

In ten minutes you have a look into beautiful Finland and for ten minutes you can enjoy of the Finnish music composed by the most famous composers :
Kaija Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg and Jean Sibelius.

This music DVD was judged to get Intermedia Globe SILVER Award in Hamburg World Media festival, 2005. It is produced for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

AFTER THE ICE AGE

Vegetation began to grow in Finland when the last Ice Age had ended, some ten thousand years ago. When the continental ice cap began to melt, ice masses on the move gouged deep grooves in the earth’s crust; creating ridges and cliffs and shifting huge boulders.

These features are still visible in the landscape. As the air temperature rose, the seas receded and the land dried out and life began to return to the terrain that would become Finland.

Finns are said to regard nature as an all-embracing source of wellbeing. It is generous and diverse. In the spring it is the rippling sound of streams. In summer, it is the heat of the sun and 24-hour daylight. In autumn it brings limpid skies and the bounty of harvest time. It is also the blue twilight and tranquillity of winter. To many, nature is a font of physical and mental renewal - an almost sacred force.

This DVD program was judged to get Intermedia Globe GOLD Award in Hamburg World mediafestival, 2005

TIMO SARPANEVA and his artistic world

"Artists cannot create beauty. At best they can create the circumstances for experiencing beauty."

The growth of Finnish industrial art coincided with the 1950s. In fact, it was not purely a coincidence, as the war was over, materials were available, manufacturing technology was making progress and, with a rising standard of living, people were rediscovering high-quality design, which Alvar Aalto had introduced back in the 1930s. Moreover, Finland had a group of trained young artists, among them Timo Sarpaneva, who had just completed his studies as a graphic artist.

Sarpaneva’s international career began in 1951 with the Milan Triennale.

“I don’t believe in a miracle called inspiration, but in work, work and more work. The primary material of all artists is their own world that they have lived in and experienced. What lives on in my inner world are long mild summer nights, the Finnish islands, which may be only outcrops of bare rock, and the memories of my grandfather’s blacksmith's forge. Intertwined there are myths of elves and earth spirits, and the smell of cotton dyes and the glow of molten glass. And love, which manifests itself in the purest of all forms as creative work. Love is also the creator of colours."

This DVD program was judged to get Intermedia- globe Gold award, Hamburg Worldmediafestival 12.5.2004

FINLAND A` LA CARTE

The roots of Finnish gastronomy are in the country`s rural past. In its early history, there were two principal areas of fixed settlement in Finland. There was eastern Finland with its Slavonic influences and western Finland with its Germanic features. In the 21st century Finnish cuisine offers the best culinary traditions from all over the country and our cooks rely on good, honest fare complemented by modern flavours from both home and abroad.

ELIN DANIELSON-GAMBOGI

The foundations and national characteristics of Finnish painting developed towards the end of the 19th century. One outstanding exponent of Finnish painting of that era was Elin Danielson-Gambogi.

LANDSCAPES OF THE MEMORY

The colour scale must be right. The same with the rhythm and the motion. They must be in balance. Together with the surface structure they create the whole.

I’m often asked which is my favourite season and where do my ideas and themes come from. To me all the seasons are appealing, but my favourites are autumn and winter, particularly the first falls of snow or when the snow and ice are melting. I love to watch the ice floes plunging down the River Simojoki. It is a splendid drama in which, as a human, you feel remarkably small. The ground trembles, fences collapse and even a lakeside cabin can be shoved off its foundations and carried downriver in the maelstrom. Matters like these and other natural events here in Finland captivate me and often provide the themes for my paintings, says Juha Meuronen - artist. His works are no physical landscapes, only landscapes of the memory.

This video was judged to get Intermedia- globe Silver awards, Hamburg Worldmediafestival. (May 2003)

JEAN SIBELIUS - NATURALLY ( 1865 - 1957)

Music document about Jean Sibelius, Finland`s pre-eminent composer. " It is strange to think that nothing in the whole world, not in art nor in litterature nor in music touches me as much as do these swans, cranes and wild geese. Their sounds and their presence are like echoes of a symphony. To me they are as credos from my different creative periods. They explain why my symphonies are all so dissimilar."

In this video we can hear the music composed by Jean Sibelius and performed by Lahti Symphony Orchestra, pianoartist Izumi Tateno and two little boys from Hämeenlinna music institute. There is also authentic film material about Jean Sibelius.

This video was judged to get The first place, The Gold Camera Award at Chicago, 8.6.2001.

This video was judged to get Intermedia- globe Silver awards, Hamburg Worldmediafestival. (May 2002) the Video Communication Prize, at Tokyo Video Festival 2002

REIMA PIETILÄ (1923 -1993) - The Guardian Spirit

Reima Pietilä was one of the most famous architects in Finland ,died - 93. He was an esthetic who appreciated highly nature as his inspiration sources. He thought that every place and every building has the spirit, genius logi. However he didn`t copy the nature or enyone else and because of that he often was criticized by his colleagues and the Finnish people. At the same way as Alvar Aalto and his functionalism was.

Today we think that Reima Pietilä and his wife, architect Raili Pietilä were predecessors whose works are really beautiful, and so different than any other buildings in Finland.

They have also planned several buildings in foreign countries, e.g. in Kuwait and in New Delhi. In Finland the most famous building designed by them is Mäntyniemi, the home of the President of Finland.

FOCUS ON ALVAR AALTO, 1898-1976

Alvar Aalto, the originator of Finnish modern achitecture, was born on February 3,1898, in Kuortane in a magnificent farmhouse. He can justifiably be considered one of the most gifted architect of this century. Free form, and an abundance of carefully planned and perfectly finished details and inventiveness are quintessential Aalto.

His skilful use of free form and wood culminated in the Finnish Pavilion at the New York World Fair in 1939.

In this document video we can see different buildings from Aalto`s famous public buildings to prefabricated wooden houses and glasswears. There is also authentic film material about Aalto.

FINNISH 2000 DESIGN

Finnish design can be regarded as a question of style. The distinctive features of Scandinavian design have always been purity of line and functionality, even minimalism. Even though Finnish design language has preserved those admired features it has also absorbed a new freedom, plus humour and colour.

This video is an outstanding example of the excellence of Finnish industrial design in Valmet Corporation ( The paper production lines), in Lappset Group ( Modular playground equipment for children ), in Arabia/Iittala ( Modern tablewear and glasswear ), in Kalevala Koru (jewellery) and in Finnforest ( wood and wooden buildings )

THE NEW FINNISH ART, parts 1,2,3 and 4

This video tells about the Finnish modern art through three painters: Erkki Pirtola, Pentti Koivikko and Soile Yli-Mäyry , who is very popular especially in foreign countries. There is one sculptor too, Kari Ovaska with his impressive works.

THE JOYS OF EATING IN FINLAND, parts 1,2 and 3

" Food and the pleasures of eating are part of the joy of travelling. New and unexpected tastes, exotic cooking methods... the world of good food is full of delights "

In this video we cook and enjoy good food : meatdishes, fish, crawfish, mushrooms, vegetables, berries ... and in different places: in a restaurang, in an old country house, by the lakeside ... And of course we enjoy the good company and good feeling.

THE NORDIC EXPERIENCE, parts 1,2,3 and 4

Fun and feelings in Finland.

Finland`s vast lake districts begin just a short distance from the capital, Helsinki. This video shows interesting ways to enjoy on a summer day or even on a winter day in Finland, in different places : canoeing, boating, fishing and icefishing, cycling, trekking with Icelandic ponies and... you may have heard that one of the things Finns like best is a summer sauna evening or...they also like to go to the hole in the ice.