Saaret navigates the city of Helsinki as an environmental archipelago composed of heat and energy islands, insulated atmospheres, and artificial climates, leaking both from the past and future.
Through stories that connect different areas of the city, a hybrid narrator voice emerges as an ecological subjectivity produced by and through sensing, at once abstract and embodied into different physical forms and temporal perspectives. Each narrative moment provides a glimpse into the complex layers of time and space, offering perspectives that transcend traditional boundaries between nature, technology, and the urban environment. The essay film alludes to the now-extinct genre of the city symphony, while the Super8 film format creates a dreamlike temporal ambivalence reminiscent of travel films and nature documentaries. The image frames appear as fragile envelopes themselves. In this work, Paolo Patelli ultimately creates a sensory, cinematic reflection on the interactions between human life, urban infrastructure, and the natural world.
