18.10. — 10.11.2024

In September 1930, a human thumb was found in a spring in Helsinki’s Tattarisuo. The following autumn, a total of 51 human body parts of 18 different people were found in the same spring; severed hands, feet and heads. The police were puzzled by the case for a long time, and it finally took almost two years to solve it.

The perpetrators were revealed to be a witch circle of six people.  Their leader was a middle-aged man who called himself Noita-Kallio (‘Witch-Rock’). He had received a revelation about a gold  treasure hidden in the bottom of the spring of Tattarisuo. In the treasure hunt one had to keep contact with the spirits of the dead, who could help with bringing the treasure to the surface. For this purpose, parts of human bodies, or “seals” as the group called them, were needed, which led to the digging up of the dead from their graves.

The public’s interest in the case was enormous.

In the work LÄHTEELLÄ – “At the Spring” the story is told as seen from the inside of the events and the events are presented in the order in which they were reported – not in chronological order. The script is based on newspaper articles, information letters sent to the police by the public, and interrogation protocols of the accused.

The work has been supported by AVEK, Koneen säätiö and TAIKE.

Media artist and film director Jan Ijäs (b. 1975) studied art education and creative writing in Jyväskylä University and documentary film making at the Department of Film, Television and Scenography at the Aalto University in Helsinki. His work can be described as a blend of avant garde, experimental media art and documentary film making. His films have been screened at more than 270 Finnish and international film festivals and as installations in museums and art galleries. He has won numerous awards, including the Finnish Risto Jarva Prize in 2011 for SWEET MOV(I)E. Raft of the Médusa, film about immigration won Amnesty International Award 2018 at the IndieLisboa film festival in Portugal.