Jokinen

In 1931, the so-called Yokinen Trial, organized by the Communist Party of the USA in Harlem, New York, brought the Finnish immigrant August Jokinen to public attention. Jokinen, a janitor at the Finnish Worker’s Club, was accused of not defending three African-American communists who had been mistreated at one of the club’s dances. Following his admittance of guilt, Jokinen became an outspoken civil rights advocate until he was arrested for membership in the Communist Party and subsequently deported to Finland.
Laura Horelli tells Jokinen’s migration tale as a mixture between historical research, detective story, and arts and crafts club. Arranging her archival findings – ranging from newspaper articles to books and historical photographs – on a physical desktop, she constructs a narrative by positioning, highlighting, cutting out, masking, and coloring. Her ‘analogue desktop-documentary’ follows August Jokinen’s public story all the way to the present, to a mailbox message on a Russian mobile phone.
by Laura Horelli
with Olad Aden, Artur Andreasjan, Peter Gilbert Cotton, Katri Kuusimäki, Leslie Malton, Pertti Rönkkö
Finland 2016 English, Finnish, Russian 45’ Colour

With

  • Olad Aden
  • Artur Andreasjan
  • Peter Gilbert Cotton
  • Katri Kuusimäki
  • Leslie Malton
  • Pertti Rönkkö

Crew

Director Laura Horelli
Cinematography Anne Misselwitz
Editing Janina Herhoffer
Sound Design Jochen Jezussek
Sound Benjamin Kalisch, Lukas Lücke

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Laura Horelli

Laura Horelli, born in 1976 in Helsinki, Finland, lives and works in Berlin. Her works, mainly digital films, explore the intersection of the private and public spheres. She has received grants and scholarships and her work has been shown at numerous international exhibitions and festivals.

Filmography

1999 Mobile Phone Use / Advertising; video installation, 3 min. 2003 Helsinki Shipyard / Port San Juan; video installation, 17 min. · You Go Where You’re Sent; 19 min. 2004 Wolfen-Nord, Teil 1 und 2; with Kathrin Wildner, video installation, 13 min. 2005 712 Interviews?; video installation, 19 min. · Incomplete Picture – „Discover Japan“; video installation, 18 min. 2007 I Have Been Considering Making a Video about a Ski Resort in Northern Finland and Showing it in a Gallery in Berlin; video installation, 16 min. 2009 Shedding Details; with Gerhard Friedl, 24 min. · Haukka-pala (A-Bit-to-Bite); video installation, 28 min. 2010 Trading Places; with Ann Kaneko, installation, 27 min. 2011 The Terrace; 24 min. 2013 A Letter to Mother; 27 min. 2016 Jokinen; 45 min., Forum Expanded 2017 2018 Namibia Today; video installation, 21 min., Forum Expanded 2018 2019 Uutisten aika (Newstime)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019