Cristal Alakoski
Cinematographer & Director
Cristal Alakoski is a Helsinki based cinematographer who has worked in documentaries, short films, commercials and music videos. She has also done directing work for short films, commercials and music videos. Alakoski loves to experiment with different formats from film to digital. In addition to her cinematography work, she does art photography projects and catalogue shootings for companies.
Alakoski has a master's degree in cinematography from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (former Taideteollinen korkeakoulu, TaiK) with a minor from Aalto University School of Business. She graduated in the spring of 2022.
Alakoski has participated in several appreciated master classes. She received a scholarship for the IMAGO International Federation of Cinematographers Master Class, which she attended in 2017. She was also accepted to the American Society of Cinematographers Master Class in Los Angeles in 2019.
Alakoski would describe herself as an innovative, adventurous and open minded person, with her own voice and vision and lots of new ideas. She likes to work in different kinds of projects and always gives her best.
Let's work together and create something wonderful!
Contact me at:
alakoskicristal [at] gmail [dot] com
Education
- Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture: Cinematography BA & MA, 2022
Exchange studies
- ArtCenter College of Design, California, 09/2019 – 12/2019
- Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland, 11/2016 - 12/2016
- University of Silesia in Katowice - Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School: Faculty of Radio and Television, Poland, 9/2016 - 3/2017
Master classes
- Underwater Cinematography Master Class (Vance Burberry (ASC), Hollywood Divers), 11/2019
- ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) Master Class, 10/2019
- IMAGO International Federation of Cinematographers Conference & Hands on Master Class (scholarship: IMAGO), 3/2017
Competition series & Awards
- 2024 - Tampere film festival (Tampere, Finland) - The short film Kesken was selected to the competition series for Best Short Film.
- 2024 - Tampere film festival (Tampere, Finland) - The experimental documentary short film Vain toinen meistä was selected to the competition series for Best Short Film.
- 2024 - DIAMETRALE Experimental Film Festival (Innsbruck, Austria) - The experimental short film Étude of Sadness was selected to the competition series for Best Short Film.
- 2023 - Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival (Szeged, Hungary) - The experimental short film Étude of Sadness was selected to the competition series for Best Experimental Film (one of four candidates).
- 2023 - OMVF - Oulu Music Video Festival (Oulu, Finland) - The music video Surun Synty was selected for the competition series for Best Music Video.
- 2023 - Prague Music Video Awards (Prague, Czech Republic) - The music video Harvest Land won the category "Best Low Budget Music Video". The category was for music videos with a budget under 3000 EUR.
- 2022 - Nordisk Panorama (Malmö, Sweden) - The documentary Elämän Muisti was nominated to the New Nordic Voice competition.
- 2022 - OMVF - Oulu Music Video Festival (Oulu, Finland) - The music video Harvest Land was selected for the competition series for Best Music Video.
- 2021 – MArteLive Contest (Vilnus, Lithuania) - The music video Maantie was selected as one of six music videos among all the submissions from Northern Europe to compete in the first stage of the 2021 MArteLive contest.
MArteLive Europe is an international contest and festival for young and emerging artists co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
After a public vote open to all residents in the European Union, and voting by a professional jury, Maantie advanced to the semifinals in the competition! The semifinals were held in Vilnus, Lithuania 25.6.2021. - 2020 - OMVF - Oulu Music Video Festival (Oulu, Finland) - The music video Maantie was selected for the competition series for Best Music Video.
- 2017 - Minimalen Short Film Festival (Trondheim, Norway) - The short film Uni Sodasta was selected for the competition series for Best Nordic Documentary.
- 2017 - Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival (Szeged, Hungary) - The short film Uni Sodasta was selected for the competition series for Best Short Film.
- 2015 - Helsinki Short Film Festival (Helsinki, Finland) - The short film Uni Sodasta won the best student film award.
