‘Human dramas’ is how Eija-Liisa Ahtila characterizes her own films. Both in her films and her installations she searches for alternative narrative structures which she can use to throw aside or convert existing media formats, or simply provide them with new content. The recognizable structure of a commercial or a documentary is applied to the telling of a different kind of story. Usually about a group of individuals, family or friends whose friendships, family ties or love relationships are spun out in episodes across multiple screens and installations. Changes in characters and unexpected plot twists tend to confuse the viewer and to cloud the relation between reality and fiction.
The material makes If 6 was 9 look like a documentary production. The images, split across three screens, are however carefully staged. The girls tell of their fantasies, experiences and memories relating to their sexual development. When one of the girls says "So I am 38 years old" it is clear that she is speaking someone else's words. All the texts are based on research and extensive conversations with other women. It is a mixture of true stories with fictional dialogue. The three images in the split screen are carefully balanced with each other and supplement each other where necessary, in such a way that even dialogues sometimes seem to occur. Sometimes the whole screen is used in a panoramic way but usually, the 'split' is emphasized rhythmically and compositionally. The sound track, however, remains the binding factor.
– Geert-Jan Strengholt
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