Experience socialist revolution on the red planet – with musical accompaniment!
Aelita – the Queen of Mars is one of the forgotten gems of silent-movie era. The sci-fi pioneer was premiered in the Soviet Union in 1924 (three years before Metropolis) and has been without a proper composed musical accompaniment since - that is - not until now. Cleaning Women has composed the music with self-made instruments - mostly made out of recycled material. The instruments' acoustic clang is coloured with effects and is also somewhat Martian. Music is performed live in front of a movie screen by three cross-dressing zombies.
”We wanted to bring Aelita into this millennium and to spread its revolutionary vision to the movie and experimental music enthusiastics around the globe. Our goal was to compose hypnotic, rhythmical and original accompaniment that conveys seamlessly the silent film's narration and imagery, which is mind-blowing in it's futuristic visions!”
The premiere of this Kino Konzert was held at Finnish film archive's theatre Orion in spring 2003. Since that Aelita has been performed in Moscow Film Museum, Tromso International Film Festival in Norway and in Midnight Sun Film Festival, Finland. In 2008 Aelita was accompanied with a new arrangement in Luxembourg Philharmonie Hall and the new version had also three screenings in Finland.
Aelita – the Queen of Mars,
Soviet Union 1924,
Dir. Jakov Protazanov,
running time 113 min.
Musicians and composers:
Cleaning Women:
Risto Puurunen(CW01),
coffee bean can buzuki, washing tub bass
A short teaser of Aelita - the Queen of Mars.
A silent movie with musical accompaniment by Cleaning Women.
Other Silent Movie Accompaniments by Cleaning Women
To date, Cleaning Women has accompanied five silent movies. The first one was Dziga Vertov'sEnthusiasm (1924), premiered in 2003 and shown e.g. in Berlin and Sodankylä film festivals. The same year the group composed also music for Aelita - the Queen of Mars.
In 2005 Cleaning Women was asked by Tampere International Film Festival to compose music for Sergei Eisenstein's classic Battleship Potemkin (1925), which was later shown e.g. in Moscow Film Museum and in Tromso International Film Festival, Norway.
In 2007 Film Museum in Amsterdam commissioned an accompaniment for Dziga Vertov'sEleventh Year (1928), which was performed in Club Paradiso, Amsterdam and later the same year in Sodankylä Film Festival in Finland.
In 2011 Cleaning Women were commissioned by the Tromso International Film Festival to collaborate with experimental musicians Ivan Afanasyev (Russia), musician/composer Gudmund Ostgard (Norway) and multi-talented musician Nasra to create and perform a new musical score for Fritz Lang's classic "Metropolis" that debuted at the 2011 Tromso International Film Festival.
The poster designed by Jussi Karjalainen to promote the first Aelita screenings
with Cleaning Women's musical accompaniment.
All Aelita Screenings to date:
2011
16.04.11 Orion, Helsinki, Finland, (Aelita Live Accompaniment)
15.04.11 Orion, Helsinki, Finland, (Aelita Live Accompaniment)
2008
12. 6. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland
Aelita-the Queen of Mars 2.0 Tour
26.1. Philharmonie, Luxembourg
22.1. Kuvakukko, Kuopio, Finland
21.1. Kino Tapio, Joensuu, Finland
20.1. Bio Rex, Helsinki, Finland
2004
21.6 Musei Kino, Moscow, Russia
16.1 Tromso, Norway Tromso International Film Festival, Norway
14.1 Cinemateket, Oslo, Norway
2003
24.5 Jyväskylä, Ilokivi, Finland
6.3 Tampere, Pakkahuone, Tampere Film Festival, Finland
22.2 Helsinki, Orion, Finland
21.2 Helsinki, Orion, Finland
Other Silent Movie Screenings:
2012
Metropolis
Together with Nasra (NOR), Gudmund Østgård (NOR) and Ivan Afanasyev (RUS)
13.05.12 Bio Rex, Helsinki, Finland
11.05.12 Kino Artis, Tallinn, Estonia
2011
Dziga Vertov's 11th Year
08.10.11 Orion, Helsinki, Finland
06.10.11 Orion, Helsinki, Finland
Metropolis 2011 Together with Nasra (NOR), Gudmund Østgård (NOR) and Ivan Afanasyev (RUS)
24.09.11 Lomonosov Culture Palace, Arkhangelsk, Russia
21.09.11 Pobeda cinema, Petrozavodsk, Russia
20.09.11 KinoKlub na Vinzavode, Moscow, Russia
16.09.11 Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway
16.09.11 Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway
16.06.11 Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland
26.05.11 City Drama Theatre, Murmansk, Russia
21.01.11 TIFF, Tromsœ, Norway
2008
30.4. Bio Rex, Helsinki, Finland (11th Year)
2007
8.9. Silent film days Tromso, Norway(11th Year)
14.6. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland (11th Year)
12.4. Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands (11th Year)
