
Shadow Codex
The graffiti on the grey concrete walls of the disused prison in Turku are like cave paintings from a lost civilisation in the Finnish artist Saara Ekström’s ‘Shadow Codex’, which, with a simple but overwhelmingly suggestive approach, lets text, drawings and the shabby pinup posters speak their own language about incarceration and institutionalised punishment. Each cell is a gallery, an indexical imprint of the anonymous inmates’ minds, from a past conjured forth by the film’s timeless black and white 16mm images, with a gloomy melancholy that borders on madness. But, at the same time, the surveillance machinery, the architecture and the many layers of engravings tell us about a society which, in its attempt to maintain law and order, creates monuments of its own shadow – set against John Cage’s ‘Perilous Night’.
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- —
- Box office
- —
- Language
- Finnish
Behind the camera
Director
Produced in
Finland
Videos
No extra videos are listed for this title yet.
Release dates
DenmarkDK
- Premiere25 Apr 2021
Frequently asked questions
Shadow Codex was released on 25 April 2021.
Member reviews
Sign in to rate and review. Browsing stays free and open.
Sign inMember comments
0Sign in to post a comment. Browsing stays free and open.
Sign in











