Eija-Liisa Ahtila (b. Finland, 1959), an artist celebrated for her often interrelated moving image installation pieces and 35mm films, returns to MoMA with the New York premiere of her film Where Is Where?, a haunting and layered consideration of how history affects our perception of reality. Fifty years ago, during the Algerian war, two young Arab boys killed their French friend. In the present day, a European poet (played by the sublime Kati Outinen, known for her appearances in the films of Aki Kaurismäki) seeks to understand and interpret this event with the aid of the character Death. With her fluid, highly original use of multiframe images Ahtila expands, beautifully and arrestingly, the expressive power of cinema.
Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film.