Education & Background
Marjo Viitala is a film director and a media artist holding an MA in Film from Stockholm University of Arts (2012). She creates both narrative drama and conceptual art, with her films screening at festivals worldwide and her media artworks showcased in solo and group exhibitions at venues such as Galleria Huuto, Art Center Mältinranta, and Seinäjoki Art Hall.
In addition to her artistic career, Viitala holds an M.Sc. in Engineering and Management from Aalto University, Helsinki. She wrote her thesis at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva (2000), and before transitioning to film, she worked at Nokia. This background in systems and strategic thinking informs her structured yet intuitive approach to artistic research and filmmaking, providing a unique perspective on the complex social structures she examines. Her professional versatility is further reflected in her experience as a theatre producer, with performances staged at Teatteri Universum, KokoTeatteri, Ylioppilasteatteri, and the Finnish National Theater.
Viitala lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Her work has been supported by institutions such as the Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK, YLE, Art Promotion Centre Finland (Taike), The Finnish Cultural Foundation, The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Järviseutu-säätiö, and Säästöpankkisäätiö.
Artistic Focus
In my work, I examine communities, norms, and the stigmas they produce—focusing on those for whom these expectations become too narrow. My media art approaches the same theme from the inside out: using games and play as methods to study how individuals act within a community and build it together. These two practices are complementary—narrative cinema and participatory media art are two different ways of asking the same fundamental question.
My practice moves between narrative film and new media art, circling around questions of how people relate to one another—through play, through moments of crisis, and through the fragile constructions of identity.
In my short films, I often work with children and young people, exploring emotions that are difficult to name: the end of a friendship, questions of gender equality, paranoia in love, the first steps into substance use, or the small justifications we give ourselves for harmful actions. Across comedy, drama, and horror, absurd elements puncture the surface, opening cracks where reality becomes unstable and emotionally revealing.
In new media art, my focus shifts to games and play as metaphors for adult life. I explore the idea of the “inner child” as a space where vulnerability, imagination, and survival strategies converge. My recent projects bring Finnish and Beninese play traditions into dialogue, examining how cultural practices of play shape identity, memory, and belonging. A forthcoming project will expand this inquiry to Japan, where I plan to study traditional forms of play and their cultural resonances.
Parallel to this, I am developing several feature-length screenplays that extend my interest in emotionally complex relationships, power dynamics, and the ways people adapt to unstable or ethically compromised environments.
Across forms and genres, my practice persistently returns to a central question: how do we invent ways to live together, and what do those inventions reveal about us? By this, I refer to the rules, rituals, and games we create to connect with one another—and to how these forms expose our negotiations with power, intimacy, identity, and belonging.
Latest
Camouflage / Suojavärit (Feature Film) – Selected for the prestigious Kehittämö program shortlist (Finnish Cultural Foundation & AVEK) in early 2026. Produced by Sons of Lumière, the film is an observational drama examining care, institutional structures, and the invisible “camouflage” we adopt to survive within them. The project is currently in the screenwriting phase.
I Remember You (Short Film, 2026) – A collaborative film focused on collective storytelling and shared lived experiences. The story was developed together with Rosa Kumar Saarinen, Lili Smith, Kastanja Rissanen, Ada Nykvist, Ali Tabassam, and Linda Larkovirta, who also star in the film. Following its premiere in January 2026, the film is currently in festival distribution.
Switch Place – Adjidji Ya (Media Art / Research) – Produced by Icebreakers Productions. This multi-channel work bridges Benin and Finland, using traditional children’s games as metaphors for the diaspora experience. The project features Beninese adults living in Finland and is scheduled for filming in late 2026.
Artistic Research in Japan (Media Art / Research) – An upcoming three-month research residency in Tokyo, planned for 2026–2027. Working in collaboration with Jiyu Gakuen and academic partners affiliated with Tokyo Gakugei University, the project will examine traditional forms of play as rituals of social participation.
Ode à la joie (Performance, 2025) – Performed in December 2025 as part of the collective project Tout se passe autour de l’eau (Everything Happens Around Water) in Lomé, Togo. This afro-contemporary ritual performance explored water as a source of life and a sacred link between ancestral memory, the present, and the future. Curated by Clément Gbegno and Obed Nyamakou, the work brought together engaged artists including Wody Yawo, Dodji Efoui, Kwami Da Costa, Eugene Kokou, Miia Autio, and others.
Selected Awards
2018 Sure Sign / Varma merkki: Six (6) Kalevi Awards, Finland
2013 Birdflight / Linturetki: Special Mention, New Vision Film Festival, Kiev, Ukraine
2007 Penis Envy / Peniskateus: Best Fiction, Zerkalo Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia
2005 Domestic News / Kotimaan uutisia: Special Mention & Teemu Mäki Award, Arktisen Upeeta Festival, Finland
Selected Publications and Essays
”You Guys Wanna Go See A Dead Body?” Om barnet och döden på film (2012) – An essay published in the anthology Mot barnfilmsträsket och vidare! – Åtta filmskapares tankar om barnfilmens möjligheter och begränsningar (Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts / StDH). Edited by film scholar Malena Janson, the book examines contemporary children’s cinema from the creator’s perspective. Viitala’s chapter explores the cinematic representation of childhood, mortality, and how young audiences navigate dark or taboo themes.
Heti Zine (2016) – A collaborative, limited-edition art zine produced as the outcome of a workshop program at The Finnish Museum of Photography. Created alongside a group of contemporary Finnish lens-based artists, the publication focused on immediate visual storytelling and print as an experimental medium (Editors: Katri Naukkarinen & Anna Niskanen).
For Previews
Birdflight / Linturetki – Available via Koulukino (For educational use)
Sure Sign / Varma merkki – Available via Koulukino (For educational use)
Mirror / Peili – Available via AV-arkki (Video excerpts. Full-length previews require the password)
Penis Envy / Peniskateus – Available on Vimeo (Public)
Liar Girl / Valehtelija – (Currently offline from Yle Areena)
Professional Previews: If you are a curator, programmer, or collaborator and do not have access to the platforms above, please contact me for private preview links and passwords.
Social Media and Contact Information
Contact: marjoh.viitala @ gmail.com | +358 40 510 8201
AV-ARKKI | IMDB | LinkedIn
Fun fact: Before finding my way into cinema and engineering, I spent a decade on the football pitch, eventually playing in the Finnish Champion League.
Helsinki observations / Kallio, Finland
MARJO VIITALA 