Practice:
Observational, Experimental,
Collaborative, Situated
Research:
Postdoc at Aarhus University
Critical Environmental Data

Saaret

Short Documentary 
23’ 2K 4:3 Color Stereo

IN POSTPRODUCTION

2025

Saaret navigates the city of Helsinki as an environmental archipelago composed of heat and energy islands, insulated atmospheres, and artificial climates, leaking both from the past and future. Through stories that connect different areas of the city, a hybrid narrator voice emerges as an ecological subjectivity produced by and through sensing, at once abstract and embodied into different physical forms and temporal perspectives. Each narrative moment provides a glimpse into the complex layers of time and space, offering perspectives that transcend traditional boundaries between nature, technology, and the urban environment.

The essay film alludes to the now-extinct genre of the city symphony, while the Super8 film format creates a dreamlike temporal ambivalence reminiscent of travel films and nature documentaries. The image frames appear as fragile envelopes themselves.

The work ultimately creates a sensory, cinematic reflection on the interactions between human life, urban infrastructure, and the natural world.


A short film directed by Paolo Patelli

Written by Jussi Parikka, Paolo Patelli, May Ee Wong
Scored by Angelo Maria Farro
Produced by Critical Environmental Data

Text Adaptation, Camera and Editing: Paolo Patelli
with Editorial Consultancy by Lua Vollaard, Rizki Lizardi
Sound: Angelo Maria Farro
Voices: Anu Aaltonen, Samantha Houston, Lua Vollaard

With support from:
Helsinki Biennial, Aarhus University (DAFED), Statens Kunstfond

Denmark, Finland / 2024
Mark

🛠

yet incomplete