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from Phil Hall's review for filmthreat.com
An elderly Finnish man plans to reunite with his family after leaving them fifteen years earlier when his son, a ship's captain, drowned in a shipwreck in the Bering Sea. Unknown to the family is the true parentage of the dead son: the woman he believed to be as his mother was actually the midwife who delivered him when his real mother, a mysterious shaman (known in the Finnish tradition as a tietaja), died in childbirth. The midwife later married the child's father and pretended the child was hers. However, the shaman's mystical powers seem to have been inherited by the dead captain's son Jari, an American slacker who is uncertain if the increasingly bizarre visions he experiences while in a narcotized state are the result of his drug intake or another force.
SYLVI ALLI as Sisu in "Under a Shipwrecked Moon"
Where "Under a Shipwrecked Moon" triumphs is in Alli's extraordinary dream and hallucination sequences. Mixing the shaman traditions of Finland's folklore and heritage with psychedelic washes of color and daring theatrical experiments, and capping the visuals with a haunting score created and performed by his real-life collaborator Sylvi Alli (whose beautiful screen presence is used to its fullest as the shaman), the film's landscape of mists, monsters and mysteries is so artistically overwhelming that it makes "The Cremaster Cycle" look like "The Lizzie McGuire Movie. -- PHIL HALL'S REVIEW IN ITS ENTIRETY
from Harri Siitonen's review for New World Finn
In many ways, there are suggestions of a Kalevalan spirit throughout Shipwrecked Moon. Animal spirits seen as ravens and hedgehogs dance around on a giant chessboard. The cinematography is excellent, changing continually along with the moods of the story. This is not a megabucks Hollywood production, but who needs Disney when such fabulous work can be done with simple, basic camerawork and seamless editing. Arranged by the talented Sylvi Alli, there is a rich musical track throughout the film, featuring her own unique rendition of Sibelius' Finlandia on the piano.-- HARRI SIITONEN'S REVIEW IN ITS ENTIRETY
JPG STILLS FOR MEDIA USE
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GABRIEL
CARTER, RICHARD C. GOODMAN,
FELECIA FAULKNER,
LEA
BENDER,
CLODY
CATES,
ALAN
READE, SYLVI ALLI, CHRIS TRIAN,
JOHN K. ROBERTS,
COLIN STUART. Soundtrack by SYLVI ALLI with music also by BIRDSAW,
MARK GROWDEN,
THE CLARENDON HILLS, ANDY NATHAN, LOOP!STATION,
DIATONIS, NO SERVICE.
Edited by CHRIS ODELL
and ANTERO
ALLI.
Written, directed, & photographed by ANTERO ALLI.
Executive Producer, VERTICAL POOL
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
ANTERO
ALLI
(click image for hi-rez jpg)
Antero Alli is a Finnish born, Berkeley-based filmmaker whose deep background in experimental theatre infuses his idiosyncratic films with a dramatic sensibility all their own. Though he claims he doesn't have a mainstream bone in his body, his films continue to garner critical praise at prestigious filmthreat.com. Public screenings of Alli's films are rare (dvds are only available from him directly) but when they do screen, they can be seen at limited runs in west coast arthouses such as the Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley), Portland Art Museum, UC Irvine Film Dept., Red Vic Movie House (S.F.), The Mills College Concert Hall (Oakland), Northwest Film Forum (Seattle), Hollywood Theatre (Portland) and many others. He resides with his wife and collaborator, Sylvi, in Berkeley CA where he also serves as director of ParaTheatrical ReSearch.
FILMOGRAPHY
Clips, reviews, photos, synopsis
FILMOGRAPHY -- PRINT VERSION
vision statement
I don't see myself as an 'artist'. The self-proclaimed title
of artist is a delusion; that is for others to decide. I see
myself more as some kind of accidental agitator. I do not
agitate on purpose. My agitating is a gut response
to being agitated. I am agitated by..."
PRODUCTION LINKS AND CONTACTS
SYLVI ALLI as "Sisu"
