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One of my personal favorite parts of the Helsinki International Film Festival is the Finnish-Weird Category of the Finnish Film Affair’s up-and-coming-project showcase. Initiated just last year and shortened to 'F-Weird,' this category invites filmmakers to pitch their weirdest ideas—eccentric, unusual dream projects that might otherwise go unexplored due to their riskier, less traditional elements.
This year, F-Weird invitations were extended to 10 fantastic projects, a more selective group than last year’s 18. To add to the excitement, one winning team would be awarded a prize supported by the post-production house Post Control Helsinki and the studio and equipment company Angel Films: €2,500 worth of color grading and €2,500 in production services, as well as technical and logistical support to increase international visibility. Though they didn’t know it yet, I interviewed the soon-to-be winners of this prize. Milla Puolakanaho and Juha Ilmari Laine are the co-directors of Boobs, a straightforward title for their silent animated short.
Boobs is a semi-autobiographical animated short film told through the perspective of the director’s breasts. It aims to communicate how much the body’s purpose and contribution evolves from one stage of life to the next, shining light on a specific yet inarguably impactful appendage. The story of Boobs is also a story of two very project-aligned collaborators, both with high hopes and energy for their project.
I really love the idea. Take me back to the very beginning of this project!
Milla: The idea came to me about a year ago. I had just stopped breast feeding my third child, and in the evening when my children were sleeping I was like oh shit, I just realized that my body is finally mine! I had been breast feeding children since I was 21 and in that moment I saw the whole journey from childhood to adulthood to this day, and I felt so much appreciation towards my boobs.
I realized that they have been part of every part of my life - my first sexual experiences, they have given me pleasure, in my miscarriages, in my pregnancies, breast feeding, everything. But also a big part of my identity, because when I first got pregnant at 21 my small breasts became huge - but when they squeeze back in they are just sags with stretch marks and everything. So I was young and single, and with a baby and saggy boobs. I was trying to accept my body but I felt ashamed because they didn't look pretty in my eyes. So it’s been a life journey to really love my body and appreciate my boobs, all the things that they have given me and all the wisdom there is.
So yeah, I had the idea, and I knew Juha from working on other projects together before like commercials, music videos, different roles, but not as co-directors/writers like in this project. I knew his style and I really loved it. I knew exactly who I wanted to send the message to, and I sent it that evening. And then he replied to me – it is an amazing idea and we should start to get funding!
Wow. Was it a voice memo?
M: No it was a text message
Juha: Thank god it wasn’t a voice memo because I hate voice memos
M: He hates them!
J: It could’ve ruined the whole project
How did you decide on doing it animation style?
M: From day one I wanted it to be an animation, and I also wanted it so that we didn’t see any faces, only the boobs. I really wanted the focus to be on the breasts and all the things that they are going through. They are not like speaking or anything, but everything we see is what my boobs have gone through. And with no dialogue in the film we think it will make it more universal
J: No voice over, no language or anything, just visual. Maybe one or two words but 99% visual. Because you can really easily imagine this project as having voice over, like “when I was 12…” etc., but we had the same idea that we really want to try to make this film without any voice over or words, because the breasts don’t speak, we just really want to make it physical.
Are you hoping to have it be released theatrically? What is your ultimate vision or hope?
J: Well, we want everyone to see this film. We want to have it as widely distributed as possible. I don't know how many short films a regular person sees in their lives, so we’re looking at every possible way of distributing this. Festivals, TV, theatrical, etc, but also we’ve been talking about the market for educational purpose films in Europe. And I want to emphasize we’re not making this as an educational thing, like we don’t have an agenda or anything. It's just her story, and I think it could be beneficial for a lot of people to see this kind of subjective story told so openly and honestly, I think it’s beautiful.
Juha, I admire your belief in the story. I’m curious how it also resonates with you so well.
J: I guess I’m just inspired by anything that is an honest portrayal of being a human. The way Milla told me the story and her idea was immediately so clear that I felt like, Ok, this needs to be done, and I want to help in any way to make this happen. I have had weird feelings about being a man and being involved in this project; should I be telling this, should I make this decision, etc. But I just really want to help Milla to make this, and I see the vision. I think it’s a great thing. And I know that I am coming from a good place, and then if I make weird decisions or an animation is off, she will tell me, (Milla laughs) and that's a really good thing.
M: I have a huge trust in Juha. Even though Juha is a man, he is the perfect one to do and draw my Boob’s story.
J: Thanks.
Actually I think it would be great for men to see this story. One side of it is for women to feel catharsis and relatability. But for men to be able to realize how boobs are not just a sexual object and are so different and also connected to birth and life, I think that that is extremely important as well.
J: Yeah, and I have had no children, so I have none of that type of experience. I think it's a really good thing that I’m learning and doing the animation at the same time, because then I am kind of this conduit for explaining it to an even wider selection of people. I am hoping that that's a benefit I am bringing.
M: You are.
How was the pitch today?
M: It was great! You know, I felt so nervous before, like im having a panic attack. And we’ve been working on different projects and now we have to be here, and everything has to be so fast. But we have been rehearsing it so much. And for me because I work as an actress as well, I said to Juha we will learn everything! We won't read from the paper. Also, Juha is a musician as well so he’s also been performing on stages and everything. We are a really good team, and I think the pitch went really well and we got nice feedback.
The most important feedback was that there was a pregnant lady that came to me and her eyes were watering and she was like, Milla I really, really hope that you will get this film done, because I was so moved by it and there are so many women who would love to see this.That was the most important for me to hear. That’s the core, that’s the everything.
Breasts, they really touch everyone’s life in one way or another. So even though it's my story, it's really universal.
In America we have a big issue with our relationships towards our bodies, but at the same time I think a lot of people want to talk about it. I think it's interesting here because in Europe, topless beaches are very normal and also, especially in Finland, the sauna culture really normalizes nudity. But in the U.S. you’re not really seeing real life people’s physical bodies in close proximity to yourself that often in a platonic setting.
J: I think it's so healthy to see, and I know the Americans have such a weird, from my view, a weird relationship to nudity. There, all nudity is somehow sexualized, and I think that’s just one aspect of nudity. In Finland we’re so used to seeing naked people, especially the same gender, but a little bit of the other gender as well, and not in sexualized contexts. So, I think it would be really healthy to have a more normal natural relationship to nude bodies.
Absolutely. So for the rest of the festival are you staying and hoping to have more meetings with people or do you feel like your work is done now?
J: Well, lets see, we would definitely love to have meetings, and tomorrow there will be a round table discussion lunch for the F-weird pitches, so we don’t know what’s gonna happen there. Maybe there would be some potential for people to speak to. But at the moment we are really looking for co-producers from different countries, so let's see how things go.
