The Night of Science: The Beetle – film screening and discussion

The Night of Science will be showing Swedish artist Henrik Håkansson’s IHME Project 2018, The Beetle, and discuss it with Professor Jyrki Muona.

The main character in The Beetle is an endangered species, the only one of its kind in the world – the halavasepikkä beetle (Hylochares cruentatus), which lives in the Mätäoja former riverbed in Vantaa, Finland. 

The species is native to the area, meaning it has lived in the geographical region of what is now Finland for around 5000 years. Entomologist and Professor Jyrki Muona was the film’s expert in 2018. To start the evening, he will give an update on the status of the halavasepikkä beetle in discussion with Paula Toppila, Executive Director and Curator of IHME Helsinki.

The experimental electronic music is a recording of a concert by Mika Vainio in 2015.

Cinema Orion

22.1.2026

17.00-19.30

Schedule:

17.00 Cinema Orion doors open
17.30 Welcoming words and discussion: Professor Jyrki Muona and Executive Director Paula Toppila
17.55 The Beetle, Henrik Håkansson (2018), 80 min
19.15 Q&A: Professor Jyrki Muona and Executive Director Paula Toppila

The film is in English with Finnish subtitles. The discussion will be in Finnish or English, depending on the audience’s preference. Questions can be asked in either language.

Free entry