Artist Statement

2 Soirees of Finnish Movies

Ihmiset suviyössä (People in the Summer Night) is a Finnish film from 1948. Directed by Valentin Vaala, it is based on Frans Eemil Sillanpää’s 1934 novel of the same title. The film concentrates on the destinies of a small group of people during one summer night. All events in the film are told from two different perspectives. During the night people are falling in love, fighting drunk, dying, and being born. Nature is just as important a part of the movie as the actors are. The novelist Sillanpää himself had told Vaala to keep in mind that there should be only one main character, and that is the summer night.
Finnish criticsespecially praised Eino Heino’s cinematography, stating that such beautiful and sensitive capturing of Finnish nature had never before been seen in domestic films. The film received four Jussi Awards. [source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ihmiset_suviyössä_(film)]

Video: Trailer Ihmiset suviyössä / People in the Summer Night (1948)

• Valentin Vaala (born Valentin Ivanoff) [1909 – 1976] was a Finnish film director, screenwriter and editor. His career spanned several decades, from 1929 to 1973, and has been called one of the most significant, in both quality and popularity, in the history of Finnish cinema. [source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Vaala]