Why yes, because the Discovery Film Festival is taking place there, and one of the many exciting events will be the UK premiere of Moomin and the Comet Chase. The FPI Blog has all of the details. I’ll be in Dublin for Octocon, I’m afraid.
Finland
Moomin Movie
Wim at the FPI blog has details of the plot, in which Moomintroll, Snufkin and Sniff go on a quest to save the world from a giant comet. Further information is available from the production company’s website.
Björk did the soundtrack. Here are a few shots of her and some of the cast at the premier in Helsinki.
You can squee now.
Finncon Follow-Up – Into The Wild
Those of you who follow Ellen Kushner and/or Delia Sherman online will know that they stuck around in Finland to do some tourism. A little more information on what they have been up to can be found in this blog post by Jonathan Clements. Some day I have to make that trip.
Finncon Follow-Up – Robert Fenner
One of the topics that came up in my interview of Pat Cadigan at Finncon was that her son is now a successful musician. Performing as Nurvuss, Rob will be playing at the Drop Dead Festival in Vilnius in August which bills itself as “the biggest festival for Weird Wave, Deathrock, Art Punk and other mutant movements.” He’s also done some great benefit work for an LGBT charity. You can get samples of his music at his MySpace page. And here’s one of his latest songs, “Americanmade”.
Finncon Follow-Up – Costuming
For the benefit of all you costumers out here, the enormously talented Simo Nousiainen has done an English language blog post about the making of his fabulous elven armor that so impressed us in the masquerade. There are some more pictures in the Finnish language version of the post. Someone please post this to the ICG lists. Simo deserves some compliments.
Finncon Follow-Up – Sari Peltoniemi
I mentioned briefly in passing that the Finnish writer guest at Finncon, Sari Peltoniemi, is a former rock star as well as being a very successful writer. Naturally I had to check out her music. A fair amount is available on the MySpace page for her band, Noitalinna huraa!. Here they are performing a song called “Pikkuveli”.
Finncon – Day 2
I’ve finally stopped rushing around the world and can start catching up on last week.
Sunday at Finncon was a little more relaxed for me. I spent the morning happily sorting through some of the reaction to the launch of Wizard’s Tower Press, then headed off to the con. At noon I interviewed Pat Cadigan for her Guest of Honour slot. That was very easy. I just fed Pat some simple questions and she talked happily about them at length.
Next up was lunch with Irma, during which I ate moose stew and chatted about possibilities for fund-raising for the translation awards. Then it was back to the con for a panel on “Building Your Dream Convention.” There were some interesting things discussed, but I’m always a bit unhappy when I hear fans saying that their ideal convention is one that appeals only to themselves and people just like them. A “broad church” event such as Worldcon is always harder to run, and can be frustrating if some of the groups being catered for don’t pull their weight. Ultimately, however, we are all the poorer if we stick in our own little ghettos. My dream convention is one at which a wide range of different fannish interests is represented, and everyone has a good time. Sadly it seems you can only do that if some of the groups are able to pretend that they are the only ones there.
I had an hour free between 15:00 and 16:00 during which I was planning to work on ideas for the final panel. All I knew was that I was moderating it, that Ellen and Pat would be on it, and the topic was “Dreaming of Reality.” I found Jukka Halme and moaned half-heartedly about the difficulty of handling such panels. Jukka put on his best mournful face and asked, “Didn’t they give you my brilliant panel description?” Oops…
So, after 10 minutes or so with Jukka I at least had some ideas going in, and as it turned out both Pat and Ellen were more than able to talk about anything I threw at them, and make it interesting. I think the discussion went very well.
The result of the site selection vote was an overwhelming victory for Tampere. I’m delighted to say that the Moon bid came second. As Eemeli wasn’t there, I’m assuming that was entirely down to me (and possibly the Moon Nazis).
The dead dog party was, as usual, at a sauna. I handed out samples of Death Whisky and Illuminati Whisky. (Click through on the links and you’ll see where the names came from.) I must say that Illuminati Whisky has fast become a favorite of mine.
Many thanks to all of the Finncon crew for a wonderful time, especially Otto, Paula, Tero and Kati for some excellent guest-wrangling and Irma for staging a wonderful event. I have some follow-up posts to do, which I’ll get to as soon as I can.
Finncon – Day 1
The official start of Finncon is on the Saturday. I missed opening ceremonies because I was busy getting the Wizard’s Tower press release out, but I got to the convention by noon and was busy for pretty much all the rest of the day.
First up was a session about Iron Sky. It was mainly in Finnish, but Jarmo did do a lot with the web site from which I learned much. The most interesting thing about the movie is that it has a budget of €6.5 million. That’s a heck of a lot of money, but with usual Finn-fan efficiency Jarmo & crew have raised €5.6 million. They are looking to get the rest of the cash from crowdsourcing, and are already 31% of the way towards their target. If you want to help, go here.
Next up I moderated a discussion on cyberpunk. Pat Cadigan did most of the work, but I did add a moment of pure 21st Century by calling up Jonathan Dotse’s blog on my iPad and reading from it. I also did a plug for Lauren Beukes’s Moxyland, which is a fabulous book.
I was down to interview Ellen Kushner in her GoH slot, but she had a whole presentation prepared, including several songs, so I was only needed right at the end. Ellen was fabulous and charmed everyone.
From there I went to a presentation on forthcoming conventions where I did some PR for the London in 2014 Worldcon bid. As Eemeli Aro was in Canada on a business trip I also ended up fronting the Moon in 2012 Finncon bid. I noted that the bids for Helsinki and Tampere had not yet got facilities contracts, whereas our bid had a splendid Moon Nazi base available for use as all the Moon Nazis would be leaving in 2011.
Finncon will be in Turku in 2011. The Guests of Honour will be Nalo Hopkinson and Richard Morgan. Provided that the Moon Nazis do not conquer Earth before then.
My schedule had a gap between 16:00 and 17:00 but I spent some of it interviewing Jarmo and his colleague, Antti Hukkanen. The video from that may end up elsewhere in a day or two. I’ll keep you informed.
At 17:00 I did a reprise of my “How to run a masquerade” presentation, complete with some new video from Montreal. That was followed by the actual masquerade. The quality of costumes at Finncon has been going up each year. There was some fabulous make-up work this year, but by far the most impressive entry was this one: a Lorien warrior in full armor. The young man who wore it told me he made everything himself except the bow, sword and trousers. Pat was taking a lot of photos and I’ll point you at them when she gets them online.
After the masquerade we headed off for dinner at Harald, the viking-themed restaurant. Here’s Ellen tucking in to some red deer. iPhones in low light don’t take the best photos, but I think you’ll get the idea.
At 21:00 we had to be back at the con for the evening party at which I got to present the masquerade prizes and the Finnish filikers serenaded the Guests of Honour. I don’t have the lyrics available yet, but hopefully that will be sorted soon.
It was, as you might have noticed, a long day.
Finncon – Day 0
The Friday of Finncon is traditionally the day for the academic conference and the Finnish SF Writers’ Association meeting. Here’s what went on.
I didn’t manage to attend the academic sessions, but there were some interesting papers. Amongst the ones I liked were a look at the changing portrayal of gender in science fiction television, an analysis of cultural appropriation issues in the use of Sámi people in fantasy fiction, and an attempt to construct a semiotic framework for use in translating fiction.
With regard to the Sámi paper, I was surprised to discover that the term “Lapp” is now regarded as offensive. The issue is that “Lapp” is not a word that the Sámi use for themselves. It is rather like the term “Welsh”, which is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “foreigners”. But we Welsh have had centuries to get used to being called Welsh and it no longer rankles for most people. The Sámi take the issue more seriously.
By the way, Finnish has two words for Sámi people, one of which means people who come from the part of the country still known as Lapland, and who may have some Sámi blood; and the other for people who are of pure Sámi descent. I’m sure that Native Americans would like to be able to make that distinction.
The writers’ conference was mainly for professional fiction people. Ellen and Pat gave expert advice, as did the Finnish writer guest, Sari Peltoniemi, who I was delighted to discover is not only a fine exponent of fantasy, mainstream and children’s literature, but also a former rock star. However, we did find time to do the panel on this year’s Hugo nominees.
Going by last year I had expected the Hugo panel to be a fight between Jukka Halme and myself on one side, and Tommy Persson on the other, with Marianna Leikomaa trying to referee. Tommy is the sort of guy who will dislike a story because it has small errors in the science, whereas I will forgive almost anything except bad writing. Interestingly, however, the entire panel was in agreement that Robert Sawyer novels are not for them, and that they wanted The City & The City to win, even though it seems like The Windup Girl is the favorite.
(Personally, of course, I would love to see Palimpsest win, but realistically I suspect it will be too weird for many voters.)
The news coverage has been excellent. The media have been all over Pat, for reasons I will explain shortly. We even made the evening TV news. In this broadcast (starting about 4:35 in) there’s an interview with Pat shot during a visit to the particle accelerator at Jyväskylä university and also a short piece with my pal Jarmo about Iron Sky.
In the evening I was treated to dinner by Pat Cadigan’s publisher, Tero Norkoloa of Avain. He’s a happy guy, and deservedly so. Pat’s book (a translation of Mindplayers) was only launched on Thursday and has gone to a second printing already. It is a huge hit here, at least in part, because it shares themes with the current blockbuster movie, Inception. Tero was also smart enough to snap up a hot young writer called Barack Obama, and that may have helped him treat Pat and I to such a fine meal.
Talking of the food, the restaurant had bear on the menu. At €58 a portion I wasn’t about to impose on my host’s generosity. I’ve had a comment on Twitter that bear is available in restaurants in Russia too, and tastes very good. Irma assures me that there are plenty of bears in Finland and hunting is strictly controlled.
Today I’m very busy. I’ll be catching up on developments on Iron Sky, moderating a panel on cyberpunk, interviewing Ellen, giving a presentation about masquerades, judging the masquerade, going for dinner at the local branch of Harald (the Viking theme restaurant) and participating in the traditional Saturday evening fun (no sign of a mad scientist laugh competition yet, but you never know).
Finncon – Day -1
Sorry for the lack of bloggage yesterday, it was a bit mad. I was supposed to have a relaxing day touring Helsinki, but I ended up booking 7.5 hours of paid work on the Daye Jobbe instead. Fortunately I did get to do the dinner cruise, which was delightful, with excellent food (though the beer drinkers were unhappy).
This morning we did the traditional Helsinki press conference. It went very well. Pat in particular is getting a lot of attention. She has a book just out here (Mindplayers) and it happens to address similar themes to the new movie, Inception. Her Finnish publisher is clearly a genius.
After that we drove up to Jyvaskyla. It is very warm here, and Niki, Mistress of the Universe (Otto & Paula’s cat) was very unhappy. Being in a travel basket is undignified, but hot days are murder when you have a thick fur coat. Thankfully she is now in her holiday home with relatives.
I’ve just come back from a civic reception to open the Jyvasklya Arts Festival. Next stop is a sauna party for the guests. More tomorrow.
Forever Daylight
I am awake ridiculously early. Here in Helsinki it is daylight for around 21 hours a day right now. When I get to Jyvaskyla the day will be even longer. Also it is very warm, which doesn’t help the sleeping. The thermometer in the guest room here at Otto & Paula’s says 26.5 C, and it is 7:00am. That might be nothing by Sacramento standards, but for Northern Europe it is quite impressive.
Bloggage is liable to be light for a couple of days due to travel and press conferences. I’m writing this on the iPad which is fine for typing but not so good for serious blog composition as it doesn’t have proper multi-tasking. I want to tell you all about Death Whisky (and Illuminati Whisky), but that needs pictures. They are on Twitter, along with comments from myself and Neil Gaiman.
Finncon Gets Competitive
Finnish fandom is normally very calm and civilized about selecting the venue for Finncon. There has never been a contested vote for the site — until now.
For the first time in Finncon history there will be a site selection ballot. Fan groups from Helsinki and Tampere are both bidding to hold the convention in 2012. When news of the election became public they were soon joined by two more bids: one for Espoo, a city to the west of Helsinki, and one for the Moon.
I know which bid I’m supporting. I want to see Eemeli make that happen.
There will be bid presentations on the Friday night at Sohwi. Sadly I think I am having dinner with Pat Cadigan and her Finnish publishers at the time. The results will be announced on Sunday.
Finncon Programme
The programme for this year’s Finncon is now online. You can see the English-language programme here. I appear to be fairly busy.
In the best Finncon tradition I have no idea what the final panel is about. I suspect we will get to make it up as we go along. At least it doesn’t mention sex, though to be fair I can’t imagine Ellen or Pat being fazed by that.
My congratulations to Tero for some imaginative use of WordPress there.
Fine Finnish Cuisine
The Moomins have published a cook book. Really. Richard Bruton explains.
Hell Comes to Helsinki?
Via Lynne Kiesling I discovered this story about a data center in Helsinki being located underneath Uspenski Cathedral so that the waste heat from all of the computers can be used to keep the neighbourhood warm. Like Lynne I am impressed by Finnish initiative when it comes to environmental issues. But then I wondered which one of my Finnish friends had come up with the idea of putting something very hot in a cave beneath a church…
Come on, own up, I know it must have been one of you.
Some Link Salad
Why yes, I am desperately trying to catch up.
- Bjork to sing for Moomin movie
- Amazing light show at Durham Cathedral
- Jennifer Ouellette on cooking as a science and werewolves
- Exposure to anti-androgens in womb affects gendered behavior of boys
- A cold-blooded old goat (no, not a Republican)
Me, Elsewhere in Finnish
The latest issue of the superb Finnish SF magazine, Tähtivaeltaja, has arrived in the mail. I have an article in there. The article is in Finnish (thanks for the translation, Liisa!) so I’m afraid there’s no point in most of you looking for a copy. I may post the English version at some point but obviously I need permission to do so.
This issue is guest co-edited by Anne Leinonen and while not quite women-only definitely has a strong female influence. My own article is about recent books with strong feminist themes. A number of Finnish ladies write about their favorite feminist SF as well. Many thanks to Toni Jerrman for turning his magazine over to Anne in this way.
Sinisalso at SFWA
I’d like to point you at this interview on the Nebula Awards web site. It is with Johanna Sinisalo, and it has good things to say about Finncon and Iron Sky.
(Yeah, I’m pimping my friends. Bite me.)
Anime in Finland
There is an interesting history of anime conventions in Finland online here. It is rather scary to see how quickly things have grown, but very heartwarming as well. Too many people is a nice sort of problem to have.
Finncon Wrap
I’ll be doing a full convention report on Finncon (and the DWJ conference) later, but I wanted to take time out now to make a few final comments and thank people who needed to be thanked. So, thank you very much to:
- Otto and Paula for being such generous and graceful hosts
- Jukka, Eemeli and Topi for chairing the biggest and most successful Finncon I have seen
- Merja for running a very enjoyable academic session (and for the copy of her doctoral thesis)
- Irma for being as wonderful as ever, for the tiara, and for the bottle of pine tar liqueur (which made it home safely this year, possibly due to an absence of thirsty Sean Williams books in my suitcase)
- Aleksi for loyally preserving some of my HangerOne Chipotle vodka for two years so I could drink it again
- The Finnish filkers for performing one of my songs so beautifully
- Everyone who entered the CosPlay and Masquerade, or came in costume
- All of my fellow judges for both CosPlay and Masquerade
- George, Al and Adam for being such great guests
- FluffCthulhu for accepting our sacrifices and ensuring that it rained in Cardiff but not in Helsinki
Two things stand out about the event. The first is that Adam Roberts totally charmed the Finns (see comments on his blog for examples). I have occasionally heard people say, “Oh, there’s no point in my going to X because none of my books are translated there.” Adam has comprehensively proved that idea wrong.
Secondly there is the sheer size of the event. As I have said before, it is extremely difficult to get accurate figures on the attendance of free events, but the estimate of 15,000 that was being bandied about on Sunday doesn’t seem unrealistic to me. Previous Finncons have appeared to have very large attendances in too-small venues. This one had a much bigger venue, excellent media coverage, and a seemingly endless stream of teenage kids going in and out. Every program item I attended was standing room only, and only one of those (the individual CosPlay) was anime-related.
Future Finncons will have to be smaller. I’ll talk more about that later. But this one was phenomenal, and I’m very proud to have played a small part in its success.