KEVÄD | Vepsian Folk Tale | Short Film

KEVÄD A fictional myth constructed as an ethnographic artifact. Drawing from an imagined Vepsian (a small Finno-Ugric people) folklore, the film introduces a lost spring ritual involving Susi, the wolf; Aino, the chosen one; Pokkazayne, the spirit of winter; and Kotkoy, the great eagle. The narrative is presented as if reconstructed from fragmented oral accounts and incomplete archival sources, mimicking the structure and tone of authentic mythological documentation. Although none of these figures exist in recorded tradition, the film deliberately blurs the boundary between fabrication and cultural memory, creating a narrative that feels both familiar and unverifiable. Created entirely using artificial intelligence under authorial direction, KEVÄD operates as a synthetic folklore - a speculative reconstruction of a past that never existed. The work questions how narratives acquire authority, and how emerging technologies reshape our perception of myth, history, and truth.