The short experimental documentary Saaret by our research program member Dr Paolo Patelli has been selected for the International Short Film Competition at the 2025 CinemAmbiente Environmental Film Festival in Turin, Europe’s foremost festival dedicated to cinema and the environment. Now in its 28th edition, the festival will take place from 5 to 10 June 2025, and is organised by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema and directed by Lia Furxhi.

Saaret is a collaboration between Patelli (director and writer), Jussi Parikka, and May Ee Wong (writers), co-produced and supported by the Design and Aesthetics for Environmental Data research project (AUFF, 2022-2025). It emerges from their work as part of Helsinki Biennial 2023.

The film presents a poetic and critical inquiry into the environmental materialities of Helsinki, framing the city as an archipelago through a hybrid narrative and analog cinematography. Engaging with themes of ecological subjectivity, infrastructural aesthetics, and environmental sensing, Saaret contributes to current research at the intersection of media theory, environmental humanities, and experimental film practice.