Francis Alÿs: Sandlines, The Story of History at the Night of Science 25.1.2024

“Sandlines is a stirring, precisely composed film that draws on the power of epic desert landscapes and the unbounded jubilance of childhood. In this striking debut feature, Alÿs draws from his artistic practice—rooted in land-based movement and social practice—to craft a luminous film that basks audiences in a radiating tension between politics and poetics, as he explores the chase for oil through the lens of children facing an unknown future.” – Sundance Film Festival

Since its premiere on 25 January 2020, Sandlines, the Story of History has been included in 16 festivals, travelled to 10 countries, with over 26 screenings, and been given a “Best Feature Documentary Award” by a children’s jury. The film was produced in collaboration with the Ruya Foundation in Iraq and co-directed by Julien Devaux.

francisalys.com Interview of Francis Alÿs about the film in Medium Magazine

Francis Alÿs (born 1959, Antwerp) is a prize-winning Belgian-born, Mexico-based artist. He has created a diverse body of artworks and performance art that explore urban tensions and geopolitics. For more than two decades, he has been documenting children at play in public spaces across the globe in his Children’s Games series. Alÿs represented Belgium in the Belgian pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale. The Nature of the Game exhibition showed a selection of films from Children’s Games, which started in 1999 and is ongoing. The full Children’s Games series is viewable online.

Ahmed Al-Nawas (born in 1980, Baghdad, Iraq) is a Helsinki-based artist and curator. He holds a master’s degree in visual culture from Aalto University and is currently studying in the Decolonizing Architecture program at the Royal Institute of Art in Sweden (KKH). Al-Nawas’s recent collaborative projects with artist Minna Henriksson have been featured in various exhibitions, including the Helsinki Biennale, Serlachius Museum, Helsinki Art Museum HAM, and Turku Art Museum. His works can also be found in the Helsinki City Art Collection and the Finnish National Gallery collection. Al-Nawas co-founded two interdisciplinary art spaces in Helsinki: Third Space and the Museum of Impossible Forms. The Museum of Impossible Forms was awarded the Finnish Association of Researchers Prize in 2019 and the Finnish State Art Prize in 2020.

Bruno Jäntti is a Doctoral Researcher in World Politics at the University of Helsinki. His research focuses on Middle Eastern political processes, democracy, human rights, and EU foreign policy. Jäntti has been appointed a Fellow at Harvard University’s Department of Government, where he will conduct his doctoral research as a Fulbright grantee in 2024-25.

Children's Games (francisalys.com)

Finnkino Maxim is at Kluuvikatu Street 1. Maxim is easily reached by public transport. We recommend arriving on foot, by bike or by public transport. See the best connection for you in HSL’s Journey Planner.

Maxim cinema is accessible by wheelchair directly from the main entrance. There are two flights of stairs to the disabled toilet. The toilet and Maxim 1 can be reached by wheelchair using the stairlift. Note: The maximum total weight on the stairlift is 300kg.

Maxim 1 has no steps on its lower (stalls) level. The balcony has several steps. It also has a safety rail in front of each row of seats, which might interfere with shorter customers’ field of vision.

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