It all starts with an opening, a barely noticeable crack in the matrix. In our case, out of this opening came the script. That was the key to maintaining the connection with the source. With the script at hand we could always just peer down and look at the reflection on the water.

The source, of course, is always within and the reflection our own image. But since each of us mirrors all of us the intimately personal always embeds the ultimately universal. That’s why both of us, working on the film together, could peer at the same source. Trying to be faithful to what we saw was our way. We knew we’d deviated from the way when we couldn’t agree upon what we saw. That became our process.

The production was lean and personal, more akin to fine arts or photography than film making. Apart from the occasional hired hand we worked mostly without crew. We picked the cast by carefully observing people on the street. Paula-Leena Jokitie did the costume design for us and Ari Karema and Jaakko Niemelä came in during various stages of post-production to collaborate on sounds. During the years we got help from dozens of people, to whom we are deeply grateful. We enjoyed working with non-professionals without the excess of knowing on their way.

We claim authorship of all the failings, but to the extent we have been able to accurately portray what we saw at the source the true author of the work is within the source and will forever remain a mystery.

The project took place betwen 2017 and 2023.

As imagined and realized by Markku Hakala & Mari Käki.