Iiti Yli-Harja: Retrospective

A look back at some of Iiti Yli-Harja’s most iconic short films.

The Jussi award winner Iiti Yli-Harja has risen to be one of the most significant animation directors and short filmmakers in Finland. She has captured the audiences as well as award juries with her characteristic documentary puppet animations. The retrospective screening covers Yli-Harja’s works from the 2016 film To Die in a Dream all the way to last year's I Smell a Mouse (2023). The screening also includes the winner of the Jussi award for the best short film, All My Mom’s Phone Calls (2021) and the winner of the Tampere Film Festival's Risto Jarva Prize BLUSH – An Extraordinary Voyage (2022).

Tuukka Hämäläinen,
Tampere Film Festival

Language: Fin, Eng Duration: 70 min Age Limit: 7+

  • Hämärästi valaistu lähikuva surullisen näköisen henkilön kasvoista.

    Unessa ei voi kuolla

    To Die in a Dream
    Director: Iiti Yli-Harja
    Country: Finland
    Year: 2016
    Genre: Fiction
    Duration: 13 min

    Three astronauts are turning in for the night in their spacecraft.
    As they lie in bed they start to recount their thoughts.

  • Musta tausta, jossa leijuu pitkä itämaisen näköinen matto ja akvaariokaloja.

    Kaikki tätini lemmikit

    All My Aunt's Pets
    Director: Iiti Yli-Harja
    Country: Finland
    Year: 2018
    Genre: Animation, Documentary
    Duration: 4 min

    Aunt's life does not go as planned. Best of intentions do not always suffice. Animation documentary of an aunt's baffling pet history.

  • Stop motion -animaatiomaisema metsästä, jossa hahmo kurkkaa ulos risumajasta.

    Oikeita miehiä

    Real Men
    Director: Iiti Yli-Harja
    Country: Finland
    Year: 2020
    Genre: Animation, Documentary
    Duration: 9 min
    Age Limit:

    A documentary film about three guys who share their thoughts and surviving methods on a strange but warm-hearted forest trip.

  • Animaationainen katsoo puhelintaan ja pitelee sylissään kilpikonnaa.

    Kaikki äitini puhelut

    All My Mom's Phone Calls
    Director: Iiti Yli-Harja
    Country: Finland
    Year: 2021
    Genre: Animation, Documentary
    Duration: 11 min
    Age Limit:

    In this chaotic but warm-hearted puppet animation documentary we get to know my 54-year-old mother Maija through her phone calls. We see how she copes with the challenges in her life, like alcoholism, demanding family members and autism.

  • BLUSH – An Extraordinary Voyage

    Director: Iiti Yli-Harja
    Country: Finland
    Year: 2022
    Genre: Animation, Documentary
    Duration: 15 min
    Age Limit:

    For 18-year-old Finnish–Kosovan Fatu, a simple visit to the grocery store feels as nerve-racking as a lunar expedition: for the first time in his life, he’s wearing makeup in public. Luckily his best friend Rai, a young woman on the spectrum of autism, is there to ferociously support him through the voyage.

  • Pitkähiuksinen stop motion -hahmo katsoo kameraa pimeässä huoneessa muuttolaatikkojen keskellä.

    Täällä haisee hiiri

    I Smell a Mouse
    Director: Iiti Yli-Harja
    Country: Finland
    Year: 2023
    Genre: Animation, Documentary
    Duration: 18 min

    It’s moving day for Iiti. Like a sign from the universe for her poor life choices, there seems to be a nightmarish mouse lurking in the shadows of her new home. Iiti has to get rid of the mouse by whatever means necessary. But the nasty mouse problem just escalates and ultimately leads Iiti to a strange coincidence.