A deep dive into radical creativity

Behind the camera, a crowd follows the shoot. The second the camera stops filming, costume designer Marié Iradukunda hurries to Ramadani to wrap him in warm clothes. Make-up artist Jennifer Appleton comes over to check her work. In the background, set designer Ruut Mantila sweeps her eyes over the entire set.

I thought I had come to watch the filming of a dry documentary. I never expected to find myself on a beach in freezing weather, nor had I thought the director would arrive on set wearing sequin pants. 

I had assumed that a film produced by a university would focus on innovation and feature talking heads in suits – even one on radical creativity. 

Trust and something else 

What, then, is radical creativity, the subject of the feature-length documentary? 

We can say, at least, that it’s not an asset earmarked for some specific industries, nor is it a skill-set reserved for professionals in art, culture or marketing. 

To pinpoint the core of radical creativity, you can start by pairing the power of imagination and play with innovation and problem solving. Don’t forget to add a dash of sisu, the spirit of fortitude or spunk commonly said to have led to the post-war economic boom in Finland.

Radical creativity is about breaking free from the compulsion to succeed; you must let the creative process guide you. In a university setting, that can translate into active – or even foolhardy – efforts, where students not just attend lectures but also head out to go do something and experiment. Radical creativity also produces things that don’t always hit the bullseye. 

Risk-taking is an inherent part of the process. 

Aalto University has produced a film to highlight its creative culture, and the project is mainly in the hands of film department alumni. This is no student project or corporate video; it’s rather an independent hour-long piece created by professionals, led by Emilia Hernesniemi who has written and directed the documentary.

In Hernesniemi’s film, people from all kinds of backgrounds speak about the concept from all kinds of angles. One challenge in casting was, in fact, an excess of candidates. With its students, teachers, researchers, artists, stakeholders and start-up founders, the university was faced with a far greater number of compelling interviewees and projects than could be included in an hour-long film.

‘We have 50 hours of beautiful and brainy footage that will be edited into a sixty-minute film,’ says Hernesniemi. 

Her challenge in the editing room will be to say goodbye to an endless amount of rich and cherished footage. 

Chemistry student Imose Iduozee dances on the steep stairs of the amphitheatre on campus. The choreography is her own, performed to a song called Joro by Afrobeat artist Wizkid. On the quiet Friday night when the scene is filmed, a few passers-by in Alvar Aalto Square turn their heads as they take in the solo performance, which merges street dance with other genres. 

Iduozee dances in the documentary, although at times it can be difficult to manage both studies and dance. 

‘School is quite demanding, so it’s not easy to juggle my studies with an intensive hobby,’ she says. Iduozee, 22, has hurried through her second-year studies in chemical engineering in order to start her thesis early. 

She felt shy about doing the dance scene, even nervous. A choreographer and dancer, Iduozee rarely performs solo in front of an audience. She is more at home as a backup dancer at gigs, such as the one where she was spotted by Nita Rehtonen, the film’s creative producer. 

She enrolled in the Fashion Design programme at the University of Art and Design (now Aalto University) when she was 19. A year after earning her master’s degree, she had already founded the fashion label R/H with Hanna Riiheläinen. 

Years went by as Hernesniemi worked with clothing, fashion and visual conceptualisation. She even taught fashion marketing at Aalto University and elsewhere. 

Then in 2018, she applied and was admitted to study at her alma mater for a second time. 

‘As an 18-year-old girl from a suburb of Oulu, I was interested in fashion and design. Growing up, I wanted to study to be a documentary film director.’ 

Cinematographer Iiris Sjöblad, who shot the documentary, started her studies the same year. ‘We have worked together a great deal and very intensely, Iiris and I.’ 

Emilia Hernesniemi believes that there is a strong link between visual industries: after all, she herself spent more than a decade creating both films and photographs for the fashion industry.

Fashion design was a good beginning for a film director, starting with project management. And film is a craft, too. Whatever the material, it’s cut and fitted to purpose, be it in fashion or filmmaking. 

‘I think it’s cool to be part of the generation that’s building the Finnish culture of today. Visual culture is strong in Finland,’ Hernesniemi says.