Ympyrät & kivet

Two strangers walk past each other at a film festival. Both see their own feelings reflected in the eyes of the other. They must stop and ask – why do I feel like I'd known you for a thousand years? The creative documentary by the Finnish artist Rax Rinnekangas is an existential expedition to the themes of longing, fear and self-understanding. The woman and the man travel several countries searching – through the other – for a missing piece that would complete one's own circle of life. Contemplating atmosphere and stony landscape surround them throughout the film. Stones have a special meaning for them both, and it is the stones that determine where the journey will continue. Stones are eternal and they create safety. When people are gone, the stones are still here. They ease the pain, and they can serve as a protective wall. Among them one can feel at home, even if in one's own life one feels like a bystander. The circle is the destination. One of the travellers has lost what the other has never had. The longing that burns in both of them, drives them to seek perfection – the perfection that the circle embodies. What do we need to close the circle? Is it even possible?
Translation: Katri Tenhola (Helsinki International Film Festival)