Heikki Taavetti Aho (29 May 1895 – 27 April 1961) is viewed as a pioneer of Finnish documentary film. Aho worked with his half-brother Björn Soldan (1902–1953) through their film production company Aho & Soldan (1925–1961) the Finnish documentary film tradition was born. Aho & Soldan was founded in 1925 in Helsinki, largely to enable a visual image of Finland as a newly born nation, and was active until 1961.

Life

Heikki Taavetti Aho was born in

Hausjärvi Hausjärvi is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Oitti. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The po ...

, the eldest son of Finnish writer

Juhani Aho Juhani Aho, originally Johannes Brofeldt (11 September 1861 – 8 August 1921), was a Finnish author and journalist. He was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature twelve times. Early life Juhani Aho was born at Lapinlahti in 1861. His pa ...

and his artist wife Venny Soldan-Brofeldt. He was raised in the family villa

Ahola Ahola is a Finnish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jarkko Ahola (born 1977), Finnish heavy metal artist * Jouko Ahola (born 1970), Finnish strongman, powerlifter and actor * Mika Ahola (1974–2012), Finnish enduro rider and a f ...

in Järvenpää. He had one brother Antti and a half-brother Björn (they were born from the same father and their mothers were sisters). Björn Soldan was born to Juhani Aho and Venny's younger sister Mathilda "Tilly" Soldan. During the 1910s, he studied engineering in the Helsinki University of Technology. In the 1918 Finnish Civil War he served in the Red administration, but was captured by the Whites after the

Battle of Vyborg The Battle of Viipuri was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought 24–29 April between the Finnish Whites against the Finnish Reds in Viipuri. Together with the Battle of Tampere and Battle of Helsinki, it was one of the three major urban b ...

. In the 1920s, Aho continued his studies in Dresden, Germany where he graduated as Master of Science. While in Germany, he found his future wife,

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

-born Dinah Selkina. They married in 1923 and had one daughter, Claire, who became a photographer in Finland and Sweden. Aho died in Helsinki on April 27th, 1961.

Awards and publications

Aho & Soldan produced more than 400 documentary films, is the largest such producer in the 1930s in Finland, as well as the movie JUHA (1937) directed by Nyrki Tapiovaara and based on the book by their father, the Finnish author

. Numerous films, such as the “Finland Calling”-films from 1932 onwards as well as the films ''1927'', ''1945'', and ''1961'', about the family's friend, the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, have been shown internationally. Aho & Soldan Lifetime Achievement Award, which´ criteria include a remarkable life's work and contribution to the Finnish creative documentary film and a successful long-lasting career as a documentary film director, is given by Docpoint, the annual Helsinki documentary film festival. They were members of the ABISS-group (Aho, Brückner, Iffland, Setälä, Soldan) in the 1930s, focusing on

Neues Sehen The ''Neues Sehen'', also known as New Vision or ''Neue Optik'', was a movement, not specifically restricted to photography, which was developed in the 1920s. The movement was directly related to the principles of the Bauhaus. ''Neues Sehen'' con ...

(New Vision) photography movement inspired by the Bauhaus. They focused on documentary photography as well as artistic photography and created thousands of pictures. Their photographic work has been published in numerous magazines over several decades and has been displayed through a number of exhibitions such as at Helsingin Taidehalli, Helsinki 1930 and 1984, Salong Strindberg, Helsinki 1930,

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

´s The Finnish Pavilion at The

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki 1987, The

Finnish Film Archive National Audiovisual Institute ( fi, Kansallinen audiovisuaalinen instituutti; sv, Nationella audiovisuella institutet or ') is a governmental bureau under the Finnish Ministry of Education responsible for supervising the distribution of audiovisu ...

, Helsinki 1992 and Musée d´art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg 1999. Similarly, their films are shown regularly at film festivals in Finland as well as abroad. Several books featuring the work of Aho & Soldan have been published throughout the 1930s – 1950s in different languages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aho, Heikki 1895 births 1961 deaths People from Hausjärvi People from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish film directors Finnish cinematographers People of the Finnish Civil War (Red side) 20th-century Finnish photographers