07/11/2023 - The head honcho of the Helsinki-based event details how important he thinks genre festivals are

As Night Visions gets ready to take over Helsinki from 15-19 November, the mastermind behind it, Mikko Aromaa, discusses European genre and the versatility of this year’s programme: one that includes sci-fi for kids, such as Snot & Splash: The Mystery of Disappearing Holes, and the world premiere of CHRZU’s Carlotta Moore and Me.

Cineuropa: You are showing European films that try to prove that even countries not usually associated with genre can deliver something new. Did they surprise you?
Mikko Aromaa: They are not only “trying to prove”, but really do prove, that there is potential in genre storytelling across the board. Restore Point [+see also:
film review
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interview: Robert Hloz
film profile] by Robert Hloz is a great example. It remains a mystery why this is the first sci-fi film in over 40 years emerging from the home turf of Karel Zeman and Jan Švankmajer.

Another positive sign of the European genre revival is the new Diabolik [+see also:
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film profile] franchise. For a long time, it felt like the Italian film industry had forgotten all about this segment of its history. Now, the character that Mario Bava brought to life in 1968 in Danger: Diabolik returns in Diabolik: Ginko Attacks! [+see also:
trailer
film profile] When it comes to France, we fondly recall the “New French Extremity” from the first decade of the 2000s, but that kind of died out. It’s fabulous to see genre films are emerging from there again, from crossover titles like Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom [+see also:
film review
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interview: Thomas Cailley
film profile] and Stéphan Castang’s Vincent Must Die [+see also:
film review
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interview: Stéphan Castang
film profile] to full-blooded horror entries like Vermin [+see also:
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interview: Sébastien Vaniček
film profile] and Pandemonium [+see also:
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film profile].

Do you think people still view them as some kind of curio?
I always tend to think positively as far as the crossover potential of films like these goes. However, the situation with their box-office performance is shaky, to say the least. In a way, this means that genre festivals are becoming even more important post-pandemic. Fewer and fewer of these great films are getting proper theatrical distribution, but I hope there will be exceptions. The Animal Kingdom is definitely not just for genre aficionados. Overall, looking at the bigger picture from the Finnish perspective, we have now witnessed two great surprises: Saw X and Five Nights at Freddy’s have been so successful. It’s highly encouraging that the industry is far from being doomed. We have a new generation of genre fans, and they are willing to pay a premium price for a ticket.

How does a children’s film or something like BlackBerry fit within the rest of your programme?
It’s simply a manifestation of our versatility. There are many people out there who associate Night Visions only with horror, sci-fi, action and maybe fantasy. But that perception is wrong. Night Visions is about films that are edgy and that stand out, regardless of their genre. We are actively pursuing the “think outside the box” mentality. We like to call ourselves the biggest genre film festival in Scandinavia, but just like with Montreal’s Fantasia or Sitges, at each edition, there are a number of films that do not fit in the “box”. Snot & Splash: The Mystery of the Disappearing Holes by Teemu Nikki is a sci-fi film for the whole family, and Nikki is a very genre-savvy, unpredictable filmmaker. As for BlackBerry, one good reason for having it is Michael Ironside, who was in Helsinki for our spring edition in April. What a personality.

You will celebrate the world premiere of festival regular CHRZU’s feature film. Are there any other local filmmakers you can say you have been supporting over the years?
The first one that comes to mind is Ilja Rautsi, the screenwriter of Hatching [+see also:
film review
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interview: Hanna Bergholm
film profile] and Snot & Splash. He has been a regular customer since the late 1990s, then wrote reviews of our more obscure films. It was only natural that when he directed his first shorts, Helsinki Mansplaining Massacre and Night of the Living Dicks, we hosted their Finnish premieres.

Night Visions was also the first festival to exhibit the work of [Sisu [+see also:
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film profile]’s] Jalmari Helander, whose short Ice Man premiered in 1999. As for emerging talent, we have been closely following Artturi Rostén. We hosted local premieres of his four shorts, and there’s definitely something cooking in that pipeline that all of us should be looking forward to.

CHRZU initially established himself with animated films, then we showed his live-action shorts, so of course we take pride in hosting Carlotta Moore and Me. He has an original voice shaking the foundations of the Finnish filmmaking landscape in a manner that has earned our utter respect. His work tends to have this unrefined punk mentality that never compromises on the technical quality of the final product. In that sense, there is a strong connection to what we do at Night Visions.

You always add in some retro titles as well, starting with Farewell, Mr. President. Why?
They have been an integral part of the selection. This time, the biggest chunk of those films comes from Mick Garris, our headliner guest best known for his association with Stephen King and the Showtime series Masters of Horror. The essential European film in the retro selection is ETV – Extra Terrestrial Visitors, a shameless rip-off of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. from Spanish master of sleaze Juan Piquer Simon. This piece of utter genre weirdness happens to turn 40 years old in 2023. Farewell, Mr. President, from 1987, is being shown as a Finlandia Gala screening. Back in 2009, we started highlighting these almost forgotten genre-related gems of Finnish cinema. We will be screening this rarity from a 35mm print with English subtitles.

We talk more and more about “event” cinema, and genre festivals have been encouraging it for a while. Do you think that combining screenings with audience participation works?
It’s a very fine line we are treading there. It’s a great concept, and there are always the likes of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room and Douglas Burke’s Surfer: Teen Confronts Fear, but exhibitors need to understand that not all films are fit for such carnivalisation. There is this simplified approach that screening a genre film equals the potential for a party – and extra alcohol sales if a venue happens to have a licence. But that is a total misunderstanding, more often than not coming from people who don’t see genre as “real” cinema. That being said, on 17 November, we will host a performance by a very 1980s genre film soundtrack-influenced synthwave group, NightStop. There is always a time and a place for a party.