Aelita - the Queen of Mars
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.

”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 then Aelita has been performed i.a. in Moscow Film Museum, Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway, Midnight Sun Film Festival, Finland, Luxembourg Philharmonie Hall and Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City.


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

Tero Vänttinen (CW04),
laundry rack,
bass laundry rack,
clothes hanger rod bass

Timo Kinnunen (CW03), rhythm instruments, washing machine drive pulleys, fermentation vat

Sound:
Jari Laakkonen,
live sound engineer



Links:
Aelita - the Queen of Mars in iMDb.
in Wikipedia.
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


Other Silent Movie Accompaniments by Cleaning Women To date, Cleaning Women has accompanied several silent movies with their original soundtrack. The first one was Dziga Vertov's Enthusiasm (1930), 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 (1924).

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's Eleventh 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 Tromsø International Film Festival to collaborate with experimental musicians Ivan Afanasyev (Russia), musician/composer Gudmund Østgård (Norway) and multi-talented musician Nasra (Norway) to create and perform a new musical score for Fritz Lang's classic Metropolis (1927) that debuted at the 2011 Tromso International Film Festival, followed by a tour in Russia later that year.

Since then the group has composed music for several short films, e.g. short comedies by Charlie Chaplin or Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902). Their latest work has been a soundtrack for Georgian surrealist comedy My Grandmother (Moya Babushka) (1929), commissioned by Silent Film Days in Tromsø in August 2016.


Cleaning Women - Aelita poster

The poster designed by Jussi Karjalainen to promote the first Aelita screenings
with Cleaning Women's musical accompaniment.

Movie screenings with Cleaning Women accompaniment


Aelita Screenings:

2021
11.09 Kokkolan Kinojuhlat, Kokkola, Finland
09.09 Tapahtumatalo Raahe, Raahe, Finland

2020
11.03 Taidelaitos Haihatus, Joutsa, Finland
16.01 Driv, Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway

2018
13.10. Kino Iglun elokuvafestarit, Karkkila, Finland

2017
3.11. Maunula-talo, Helsinki, Finland
13.4. WHS Teatteri Union, Helsinki, Finland

2014
28.11. Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico
27.9. KulturDagNatt, Jönköping, Sweden

2013
1.11. KUMU, Tallinn, Estonia

2012
20.9. Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, Big Top, Bristol, UK
6.9. Verdensteatret, Silent Film Days, Tromsø, Norway

2011
15.4. Orion, Helsinki, Finland
16.4. Orion, Helsinki, Finland

2011
12.6. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland
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. Fokus Kino, Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway
14.1. Cinemateket, Oslo, Norway

2003
24.5. Ilokivi, Jyväskylä, Finland
6.3. Tampere International Film Festival, Pakkahuone, Tampere, Finland
22.2. Orion, Helsinki, Finland
21.2. Orion, Helsinki, Finland



OTHER SILENT FILM SCREENINGS:

2024
24.06. Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna, Italy (My Grandmother)
15.06. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland (Dans La Nuit by CW03 and CW04)
24.05 KUMU, Tallinn, Estonia (My Grandmother)
23.03 Joutsan Kino, Joutsa, Finland (My Grandmother)
18.01 Driv Cinema, Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway (My Grandmother)

2023
03.09 Telluride Film Festival, Telluride, Colorado, USA (My Grandmother)

2022
15.10 Loud Silents, Kino Regina, Helsinki (Dans La Nuit accompaniment by CW03 and CW04)
28.6 Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna, Italy (Dans La Nuit accompaniment by CW03 and CW04)
18.06 Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland (My Grandmother)

2018
18.05 Bio Rex, Helsinki, Finland (11th Year)

2017
4.2. Orion, Helsinki (My Grandmother)
3.2. Orion, Helsinki (My Grandmother)

2016
2.9. Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway (My Grandmother)

2014
6.9. Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway (The Seashell and the Clergyman + Ghosts Before Breakfast)
6.9. Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway (Chaplin: Behind the Screen)
4.09. Kulturhuset, Tromsø, Norway (Chaplin: One AM)
12.06. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä (Chaplin: Behind the Screen, One A.M., The Bank)
30.3. Orion, Helsinki, Finland (Chaplin: The Bank, One AM, Behind the Screen)
30.3. Orion, Helsinki, Finland (Chaplin: The Bank, One AM, Behind the Screen)

2013
27.11. Sellosali, Espoo, Finland (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)
26.11. Sellosali, Espoo, Finland (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)
2.11. KUMU, Talinn, Estonia (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)
12.6. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)
4.2. Kuvakukko, Kuopio, Finland (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)
4.2. Kuvakukko, Kuopio, Finland (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)

2012
6.9. Silent Film Days, Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway (A Trip to the Moon)
2.9. Orion, Helsinki, Finland (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)
2.9. Orion, Helsinki, Finland (Behind the Screen, Liberty, One Week)
18.8. Espoo Ciné, Espoo, Finland (A Trip to the Moon)
13.5. Bio Rex, Helsinki (Metropolis*)
11.5. Kino Artis, Tallinn, Estonia (Metropolis*)

2011
8.10. Orion, Helsinki, Finland (11th Year + 21. Kino Pravda: Lenin)
6.10. Orion, Helsinki, Finland (11th Year + 21. Kino Pravda: Lenin)
24.09. Lomonosov Culture Palace, Arkhangelsk, Russia (Metropolis*)
21.09. Pobeda Cinema, Petrozavodsk, Russia (Metropolis*)
20.09. KinoKlub na Vinzavode, Moscow, Russia (Metropolis*)
16.09. Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway (Metropolis*)
16.09. Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway (Metropolis*)
16.06 Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland (Metropolis*)
26.05. City Drama Theatre, Murmansk, Russia (Metropolis*)
21.1. Kulturhuset, Tromsø, Norway (Metropolis*)
(*composed and performed together with Nasra (NOR), Gudmund Østgård (NOR) and Ivan Afanasyev (RUS)

2008
30.4. Bio Rex, Helsinki, Finland (11th Year)

2007
8.9. Silent Film Days, Tromsø, Norway (11th Year)
14.6. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland (11th Year)
12.4. Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands (11th Year)

2006
4.5. Ut Connewitz, Leipzig, Germany (Battleship Potemkin)
2.5. Zentrale Randlage, Berlin, Germany (Battleship Potemkin)
1.3. Drake Underground, Toronto, Canada (Battleship Potemkin)
20.1. Verdensteatret, Tromsø, Norway (Battleship Potemkin)

2005
25.8. Espoo Ciné Club, Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland (Battleship Potemkin)
15.8. Musei Kino, Moscow, Russia (Battleship Potemkin)
7.5. Teatteri Vanha Juko, Lahti, Finland (Battleship Potemkin)
16.3. Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland (Battleship Potemkin) ???
10.3. Pakkahuone, Tampere, Finland (Battleship Potemkin)

2003
14.6. Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland (Enthusiasm)
12.2. Russian Culture House, Berlin, Germany (Enthusiasm)
17.1. Riemufestivaalit, Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland (Enthusiasm)
 
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