Sketches of North (2010)

A film about Jazz and Helsinki Sketches of North is a black and white film inspired by the music of "Agatha" - a big band album composed by Kerkko Koskinen and played by UMO Jazz Orchestra and trumpeter Verneri Pohjola. Sketches of North peeks into the making process of "Agatha". The main collective behind the album share their thoughts on the creating process and the meaning of improvisation. The film also illustrates the compositions by placing their melancholic, but now and then cheerfully swinging atmospheres into Helsinki, a city of four seasons. Sketches of North glides through the heavy winter towards the intense summer and the serene, darkening autumn. The bombastic and epic music shakes hands with the manic-depressive beat of the northern capital. The audial landscape in Kerkko Koskinen's music merges with the mind-flowing narration of the film, and together they catch the dreamlike, poetically swinging spirit of today's Helsinki.