Radical Care explores the often overlooked power and necessity of care. Through two separate screenings and a Finnish language panel discussion, this theme sheds light on different kinds of care both in individual lives and in societal systems at large.
Get to know the films and read more about the panel discussion form the following links, and read more about Radical Care below.
RADICAL CARE
Radical Care picks up where last year’s Democracy in Danger theme left off. This time the subject is approached from the point of view of care: in short, there is no civil society and democracy without it. Care is the glue that holds communities and societies together. Without it, all falls apart, eventually even democracy. Care work is often invisible, leaving it unrecognised and often taken for granted. Thus, a capitalist system is incapable of measuring its worth. Care doesn’t produce immediate measurable profit, and as such is radical.
In Finland, we’ve seen our economic policies consistently punish care with cuts to education, social security, health services and elderly care. Cutting funds from care work, be it taking care of children, helping our neighbour, or (under)paid healthcare, is stupid and myopic: in addition to making individual lives worse, it also feeds inequality. There is no trust in an unequal society, and therefore no stability or wellness – in other words, there is no care.
The first screening approaches care from a societal level. In its time, The Mass of Men (2012) claimed its fair share of awards at film festivals. The film follows an unemployed person facing the uncaring cold of bureaucracy. Patient (2023) is a meditation on medical work, and the organic choreography that takes place between doctor and patient. What kinds of power dynamics does the system require for care to succeed? The Smell of Burning Ants (1994) is a documentary film following young boys growing and being raised into “men”. Hey, Temi (2024) is a warm but harrowing look at loneliness among the elderly. Can the care provided by a machine be human enough?
The second screening focuses on the care between individuals. In the heart-wrenching A Man Thing (2001) a young boy finds the security he longs for at a dog pound; Pena’s Special Hauling (2024) offers a joyful solution to caring for those with memory disorders; in Tako te volim (2024), grandparents care for their grandson in unconventional ways. Ending the screening is Le chien de mémé (2024), a documentary exploring the power of interspecies connection in elderly care.
So let Radical Care be a small cry for a more humane life and the importance of care. The subject is also the topic of a panel discussion organised in collaboration with the Democracy Research Network of Tampere University. Titled Democracy and Care, the panel discussion takes place at 18:00 on 6 March at Cine Atlas 3. The event is in Finnish and free to attend.
Riina Mikkonen
Tampere Film Festival
