The film will be presented in a brand-new live version as its composer, acclaimed English musician Simon Fisher Turner, travels from London to Oulu to perform an updated score!
The opening screening of the Oulu Music Video Festival on August 27 will present a unique film performance. Projected on the large screen of Valve Hall is Blue (1993) by Derek Jarman, a towering figure of 20th-century British art: a radical and singular feature-length film in which the screen is filled entirely with a single, unchanging color—International Klein Blue.
The film will be presented in a brand-new live version as its composer, acclaimed English musician Simon Fisher Turner, travels from London to Oulu to perform an updated score. The immersive soundscape—built from piano, ambient textures, and field recordings—intertwines with Jarman’s intimate monologue, originally voiced by performers including Tilda Swinton. In this performance, the text will be delivered live by Niko Hallikainen, one of the leading Finnish performance poets and writers of his generation.
Blue is a meditation on AIDS, mortality, love, and the color blue, moving between the everyday and the fantastical. In lyrical, hypnotic prose, Jarman reflects on the progression of his illness and the fading of his vision; by the time of the film’s completion, he could see only in shades of blue. Without a single cut or camera movement, the film draws the viewer into a trance—both overwhelming and purifying. Jarman’s final testament stands as a masterpiece of experimental cinema: as esoteric as the paintings of Yves Klein, as political as the queer counterculture of Thatcher-era Britain.
Simon Fisher Turner has previously performed Blue in various configurations at venues including Tate Modern, the Pinault Collection, and the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna. The version presented at the Oulu Music Video Festival marks its Finnish and Nordic premiere.
Blue (Live) is a collaboration between OMVF and Cultural Centre Valve, and is part of the Oulu2026 programme. Tickets (from €15) are available at the Valve ticket office and via Ticketmaster. Kaiku Card option is available, seats are limited. The Oulu Music Video Festival takes place for the 33rd time from August 27–30. The full programme will be announced later in May and June.
Artists
Simon Fisher Turner (b. 1954) has composed the music for several of Derek Jarman’s films, beginning with Caravaggio (1986). He has also collaborated with Mike Hodges, Kamal Aljafari, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and has released his own music on the renowned Mute Records. Turner is the recipient of the prestigious Ivor Novello Award. His latest solo album, STUFF, was released in April 2026.
Niko Hallikainen (b. 1989) is an award-winning Helsinki-based performance poet and novelist. Hallikainen’s intense and transgressive works observe the ambivalent intersections of class, eroticism and spirituality. His text-based solo performances have premiered, among others, at the Performa Biennial in New York, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki and the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art.
Derek Jarman (1942–1994) was an artist whose work spanned film, painting, writing, stage design, and gardening. A pioneer of the music video form, he directed promos for artists including The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys, Patti Smith, and Suede. Jarman was a key advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and one of the first public figures in the UK to openly address issues surrounding HIV and AIDS.
