The Tale of Vasalisa
Ruut Ahonen
23 MINS / ENGLISH / FINLAND / SURREAL, DRAMA, FAIRYTALE, THRILLER / 2023
Synopsis
Set in a fairytale-like, simplified nineteenth-century environment, Vasalisa witnesses the death of her motherly figure, the Too-Good, and is left alone in a cold house with an empty fireplace. She has no choice, but to go ask for coal from a powerful, witch-like character Baba Yaga. Instead of getting the coal she came for, Vasalisa gets trapped by Baba Yaga’s mind games and remains stuck with her. The Tale of Vasalisa is loosely based on the old Russian tale of Vasalisa, from the book Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
Cast & Crew
CAST:
- Ruut Ahonen
WRITER:
- Ruut Ahonen
PRODUCERS:
- Helena Marinho
- Ruut Ahonen
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/84ae39_02633ae77ecd4625bda20be62b8dfdd4~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_613,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/84ae39_02633ae77ecd4625bda20be62b8dfdd4~mv2.jpg)
Director's Biography
Ruut Ahonen is a Berlin-based actor from Finland. She completed her Screen Acting Bachelor’s degree from Catalyst Institute For Creative Arts and Technology Berlin in October 2022. Ruut made her director- and writer debut in The Tale of Vasalisa, which was her final BA graduation project. She also acted as all 3 characters in it and won the Best Lead Performance at the Catalyst Film Awards 2022 for the same film. She was a supporting actor for the music video Time in Berlin - Third Eye Blind, which was a part of the official Tribeca 2022 selection. Her most recent short film was Goodbye, Tomorrow, directed by Przemek Wegrzyn, where Ruut played the leading role.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/84ae39_309e27845a34445eaab08bfd28eecdb5~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1225,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/84ae39_309e27845a34445eaab08bfd28eecdb5~mv2.jpg)
Poster
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/84ae39_8972a4be867e4a61bb949991a4e33c1b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_420,h_594,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/84ae39_8972a4be867e4a61bb949991a4e33c1b~mv2.jpg)