Presented in the form of a series of fictional letters sent from Nina Kurtela to Aki Kaurismäki read against a backdrop of atmospheric exterior shots, Dear Aki is an experimental visual-narrative essay on the nature of naming in the globalised world. Originating from an accidental anecdote about the artist's surname, the film develops through juxtaposing northern and southern imagery while questioning the possibilities of creating new fictional spaces in the realm of already existing landscapes.

Director: Nina Kurtela
Text: Jasna Jasna Žmak, Nina Kurtela
Camera: Bojan Mrđenović
Editing: Hrvoslava Brkušić, Nina Kurtela
Sound: Hrvoje Nikšić
Voice-over: Nina Kurtela
Colour grading: Tomislav Stojanović
Producer: Igor Grubić
Executive producers: Mia Bučević, Sara Jakupec
 

Nina Kurtela is a conceptual artist who works with choreographic and site-specific practices. She studied “Dance, Context, Choreography” at the HZT, UdK Berlin and holds a diploma (MFA) in visual arts and art education from The Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Her work is being presented in a variety of contexts: in museums and galleries, film, theatre and dance festivals as well as public space e.g. KW Berlin; MUMOK Vienna; Transmediale, Berlin; Survival Kit, Riga; Tanz Im August, Berlin; X-border Art Biennial, Sweden; MSU Zagreb; HKW Berlin; Tokyo Opera City Gallery; 104 Paris; MMOMA Moscow; Ars Aevi Sarajevo, etc. She received the Japanese Media Arts New Face Award in Tokyo 2017, and was shortlisted for Berlin Art Prize in 2018. Through her performance and time-based art practice she works with methodologies of endurance, perseverance and daily practice while questioning notions of labor, identity, place and belonging. 

Filmography
Dear Aki (2021), Transformance (2010)