Johanna Vuoksenmaa

Johanna Vuoksenmaa (born 21 September 1965) is a Finnish television and film director and screenwriter who has also worked as a photographer, installation artist and a teacher.[1][2] Her films have been shown at numerous film festivals around the world and she has won many Finnish film and television awards for directing and screenwriting. As a director and screenwriter, Vuoksenmaa prefers the comedy genre because to her comedy means relief, forgiveness and defense.[1] She does not use casting agencies but prefers to cast actors to her films herself, since she thinks that it creates a level of trust between the actor and the director.[3]

Johanna Vuoksenmaa
Born (1965-09-21) 21 September 1965
Hämeenlinna, Finland
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1989–present
SpouseMatti Rönkä

Early life and education

Johanna Vuoksenmaa was born in Hämeenlinna on 21 September 1965. Her mother was a home economics teacher, her father a forestry technician and she also has an older brother, Jorma Vuoksenmaa, born in 1962.[4] Originally she studied photography at the Institute of Design and Fine Arts at Lahti University of Applied Sciences from 1985 to 1989.[5] In 1996 she decided to study scriptwriting and film directing at the School of Arts and Design in Helsinki, where she graduated as a director in 2001.[1] During her time in the School of Arts and Design Vuoksenmaa did not like the pressure that the school put on its students by competing their works with others, she thought that it made the students play safe with their work to do well.[6]

Career

During her time at the Institute of Design and Fine Arts (1985-1989) she worked as a photographer for the Etelä-Suomen Sanomat newspaper and had a photography exhibition at Harju Gallery in Lahti, which was also shown in the Soviet Union.[5] After graduating, she became a teacher of video and photography at the Tampere School of Art where she worked during the evenings and during the day she made art and worked as a successful installation artist for five years.[7] Due to the birth of her two children she went on maternity leave and after she decided to change her career path because she felt that she wasn't reaching enough audience in the relatively small photography circles: "Even though I was pretty deep in the art world, I never thought I was making aesthetically pleasing things to be put up on walls. I created art to get reactions, to have a conversation with the viewer. I was aiming for interaction and communication but because the small audience of photography exhibitions was always just nodding in agreement, so I began to suspect a case of The Emperor's New Clothes."[7][2] After graduating, she rose to fame in 2003 as a director with the feature film Nousukausi (Upswing) written by Mika Ripatti, which was awarded with the Finnish Jussi-award of the best film of 2004 and Vuoksenmaa was awarded with a certificate honour for her work as a director in the film at the Viitasaari Film Week.[1][8] She has also worked on numerous television shows as a director and a screenwriter such as the popular comedy on MTV3 Kumman Kaa (2003) and Tahdon Asia (2005) among others.[9] In recent years Vuoksenmaa has written and directed two seasons of the television series Klikkaa Mua (2011) which won five Venla-awards during its first season and its rights were sold to Sweden.[10] She also directed and wrote the film 21 Tapaa Pilata Avioliitto (2013), which was the most watched domestic film in 2013, the most watched film directed by a woman in Finnish film history and won the Jussi-award for the people's choice film of 2013.[11][12][13] In 2014 she wrote and directed the feature film Viikossa Aikuiseksi that premiered in the early 2015.[14]

Awards and nominations

Many of Vuoksenmaa's films have won and been nominated for numerous Finnish film and television awards.[1] In 2008, Vuoksenmaa was part of the panel that chose the films that would be nominated for the Finnish Jussi-award, which is the highest Finnish award for film.[15]

Year Award Film
2003Viitasaari Film Weeks certificate of honor for directingNousukausi (Upswing)Won[2]
2004Jussi Award for Best DirectorNousukausi (Upswing)Nominated[16]
2007Anjalankoski Film AwardOnni von SoppanenWon[17]
2011Kultainen Venla Award for Best ScreenplayKlikkaa muaWon[18]
2014Kultainen Venla Award for Best DirectorKlikkaa muaNominated[19]

Filmography

Vuoksenmaa prefers to use comedy as a genre in her movies because it helps her to deal with her own misfortunes in life: "Positive, healing and integrative laughter usually comes from seeing the beauty in the ugliness of the story's character and recognizing yourself in it."[20] Vuoksenmaa has said that the Danish Dogme 95 –movement has been a source of inspiration in some of her films, but she only wants to use the good sides of the movement.[20] She does not like directing other people's screenplays, since it does not allow the freedom to change the script during filming.[21]

Year Film
1997Made in FilmlandShort documentaryScreenplay[22]
1997Omassa vuoteessa (Private Parts)Short filmDirector and screenplay[23]
1999Demokratia. Vitamiinit. Oppositio (Democracy. Vitamins. Opposition)Short filmScreenplay[24]
1999Apinamies! (The Great Apes)Short filmDirector[25]
1999Rakastin epätoivoista naista (I Loved a Desperate Woman)Feature filmAssistant director[26]
2000Taivas tiellä (True Love Waits)Short filmDirector and screenplay[27]
2000Kuningas hidas (Slow at Heart)Feature filmAssistant director[28]
2000ParistoTelevision seriesDirector and screenplay[29]
2003Kumman kaaTelevision seriesDirector[1]
2003Nousukausi (Upswing)Feature filmDirector[8]
2005Tahdon asiaTelevision seriesDirector[9]
2006Onni von SoppanenFeature filmDirector[30]
2007Röyhkeä diplomaattiTelevision seriesDirector[31]
2007SydänjääTelevision seriesScreenplay[32]
2008Joku kaltaiseniTelevision seriesDirector[33]
2008YlikävelyTelevision seriesDirector[34]
2009Toinen jalka haudasta (One Foot Under)Feature filmDirector[35]
2011Klikkaa muaTelevision seriesDirector and screenplay[36]
201321 tapaa pilata avioliittoFeature filmDirector and screenplay[37]
2015Viikossa aikuiseksiFeature filmDirector and screenplay[14]

Further reading

Hyytiä, Riina. Ennen kuin kamera käy: ideasta kuvauksiin: tekijät kertovat. Helsinki: Taideteollinen korkeakoulu, 2004.

Koskela, Minna: Sutela, Heli. Kumman kaa: perusasiat haltuun. Helsinki: Nemo, 2005.

Meriläinen, Pilvi. Johanna Vuoksenmaa ja Viikossa aikuiseksi. Helsinki: Film-o-holic, 2015.

References
  1. "Johanna Vuoksenmaa". Yle. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  2. "Johanna Vuoksenmaa". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  3. Niemi, Katja (2013). "Elokuvan roolitus: Koekuvaus ohjaajan työvälineenä näyttelijävalinnassa" (PDF). Turun Ammattikorkeakoulu. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  4. Pajari, Katriina. "Ohjaaja Johanna Vuoksenmaa: Miten voi vieraantua niin, ettei tunne vastaan tulevaa veljeään". Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  5. Honkanen, Anne. "Johanna Vuoksenmaa opiskeli ensin valokuvaajaksi Lahdessa". Etelä-Suomen Sanomat. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  6. Kauhanen, Anna-Liina. "Palkitut ohjaajat ja epäonnistumisen ahdistus". Ylioppilaslehti. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  7. Vuori, Suna. "Ohjaaja Johanna Vuoksenmaa tekee kaikkea eikä häpeä sanoittamiaan renkutuksia". Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  8. "Nousukausi (2003)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  9. "Tahdon asia (2005)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  10. "Klikkaa mua -televisiosarjan oikeudet myytiin Ruotsiin". MTV Viihde. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  11. Sundqvist, Janne. "Suomalainen elokuva rikkoi miljoonarajan ennätysajassa". Yle. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  12. "Vuoden 2013 Jussi-ehdokkaat on valittu". Jussi Juhla. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  13. "Johanna Vuoksenmaa". msn viihde. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  14. "Viikossa aikuiseksi (2015)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  15. "Jussi ehdokkaat on valittu". Nordisk Film Valkokangas. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  16. "FS Film Oy:n kotimaisille elokuville 23 Jussi ehdokkuutta". SF Film. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  17. Huhtala, Jussi. "20 kysymystä Johanna Vuoksenmaalle". Episodi. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  18. "Ehdokkaat 2011". Televisioakatemia Ry. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  19. "Ehdokkaat 2014". Televisioakatemia Ry. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  20. Lehtonen, Veli-Pekka. "Hittiohjaaja Johanna Vuoksenmaa tekee seuraavaksi komediaa Turun saaristossa". Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  21. "Johanna Vuoksenmaa: Käsittelen komedian avulla vastoinkäymisiäni". MTV Viihde. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  22. "Made in Filmland (1997)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  23. "Omassa Vuoteessa (1997)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  24. "Demokratia. Vitamiinit. Oppositio. (1999)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  25. "Apinamies! (1999)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  26. "Rakastin epätoivoista naista (1999)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  27. "Taivas tiellä (2000)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  28. "Kuningas Hidas (2000)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  29. "Paristo (2000)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  30. "Onni von Soppanen (2006)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  31. "Röyhkeä Diplomaatti (2007)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  32. "Sydänjää (2007)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  33. "Joku Kaltaiseni (2008)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  34. "Ylikävely (2008)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  35. "Toinen Jalka Haudasta (2009)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  36. "Klikkaa mua (2011)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  37. "21 Tapaa Pilata Avioliitto (2013)". Elonet. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
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