Ilppo Anssi Pohjola (born 30 January 1957 in Keuruu) is an independent filmmaker, producer and artist based in Helsinki, Finland.
[6] Pohjola's second film, P(l)ain Truth (1993), also a documentary but of a more poetic and metaphorical kind, is about a transgender person undergoing a sex reassignment operation.
[9] Asphalto (1998), starring Irina Björklund and Peter Franzén, bridges the artist's interest in gender stereotypes and the erotics of the auto by shuffling footage of demolition derby, clips of pinup models in latex shorts bearing oil company logos, and moments with a young couple in relationship distress.
Drawing from the tradition of structural film and the principles of minimalist art, Routemaster uses repetition and rapid, complex editing to disrupt the flow of linear time and strict spatial continuity.
[12] A recurring theme running through all of Pohjola's work is transformation – how a person can change from one gender to another (P(l)ain Truth), how flesh and steel can fuse in an apotheosis called the crash (Routemaster), what time and chemicals do to film images (1 Plus 1 Plus 1 – Sympathy for the Decay).