Ex Nihilo

Ex Nihilo (2017) is an experimental short documentary about life, death, and our attempts to control both. It tells three separate and seemingly unrelated stories, played out across three screens, which slowly begin to entwine — creating new interpretations and meanings.

The first story follows HUBO, one of the world's most advanced humanoid robots, capable of walking on uneven terrain, driving a vehicle, and operating various tools. The second concerns Oregon Cryonics, a cryonics organisation in the USA, where the brains of deceased people are preserved at extremely low temperatures — with the hope that, one day, their memories might be revived or reconstructed. The third takes place at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located on the island of Spitsbergen, midway between Norway and the North Pole, where seeds from more than 4,000 plant species are kept frozen from around the world.

Experimental documentary. Three channel (11min) and one channel theatrical version (8min 20s).

Most of us don't want to address the fear of death. We create different coping mechanisms to try to avoid thinking of it. I was interested in the ways we not only try to stay alive forever, but also how we try to be the creators and masters of life itself.

Parnu Film Festival. 2024 (EE). One channel theatrical version.
Imagine Science Film Abu Dhabi. 2019. (UAE) One channel theatrical version.
Rex Fest / Bio Rex. 2018. (FI) One channel theatrical version.
Festival Les Instants Video. 2018. (FR). One channel theatrical version. 
State Festival. 2018. (DE) One channel theatrical version. 
Imagine Science Film NYC. 2018. (US) One channel theatrical version. 
Pori Art Museum. 2018. (FI) One channel theatrical version. 
Split Film Festival. 2018. (CRO) One channel theatrical version. 
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. 2018. (AUS) One channel theatrical version.
New York City Independent Film Festival. 2018. (USA) Three channel installation version.
Mänttä Art Festival, 2018. (FI) One channel theatrical version.
Tampere Film Festival. 2018. (FI)  One channel theatrical version, National Competition.
Slamdance. 2018. (USA) One channel theatrical version, World Premiere, Documentary Shorts.
Kunsthal Charlottenborg. 2018. (DK) Three channel installation version.
Mu Art Space. 2017. (NL) Three channel installation version.
IDFA DocLab. 2017. (NL) Three channel installation version. Official Program.