ARCTURUS is a poetic, autobiographical documentary about how the fear and grief of losing a mother take the unexpected shape of a bear. Giving fear a form changes it from an abstract feeling to something that can be seen and controlled, and even transformed into a source of strength. While reflecting on the process of loss, the film also explores how the relationship between bears and humans has changed over time.
ARCTURUS is a film like a poem that reaches out its arms to the universe in search of an answer. After losing their mother, the director seems to find her again in the mythologically charged figure of wild bears, which once used to be hunted by the Finnish and hung in trees. Lehto oscillates between a touching autobiographical discourse, made up of home movie images looking at the maternal figure through the lens of childhood, and a history of bearhood on earth, laden with symbolism and fascination and illustrated through techniques ranging from heat-sensitive images to false subjective angles of these creatures. (Georgiana Mușat)
Tuisku Lehto studies documentary film at the Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Film, Television and Scenography. Arcturus is their graduation film.
