Discoveries from Finland World Cinema

The film tells the story of 77-year-old Marja, who suffers from dementia and can no longer cope alone in her home. Daughter Terttu and granddaughter Anna are worried about Marja's condition and are trying to get her to live in the municipal service house. However, there are many bumps on the road, and Marja would not want to move away from her home.

A poetic video work in which water, time, and different bodies gradually merge. Within its flow drift temporal layers and forms of being: the primordial sea, mitochondria, Mother Nature, and the bodies of water.

A short fiction/experimental film that through absurdity and repetition explores communication, relationships, and the existential absurdity of human connection.

They swallow our rivers, and the valleys turn into one big tear of grief. Yet, there are beings who gather the grief for a journey, for what they are carrying the wounded trees and all living beings. Their luggage is full of legacy from the world that is ending, and they will find the path to a portal when the first snow of the winter falls. The wind blows and leads the voyagers to a utopia, challenging them with the questions of being.

Gaze into the success and problems with production of the Rendel Trilogy.

A pulse-pounding sci-fi adventure on a hunk of rock like no other as three unstoppable women unleash hell on an unjust man in a quest for vengeance! Ooover-the-top action, CGI BLOOD CGI SPACESHIPS!, and a breathtaking futuristic spacerock world, this 3-minute short film will leave you gasping for air and dying dead. Experience the fury of these fierce female warriors as they unleash their full firepower and bring justice to a dystopian society.

After taking psychedelic mushrooms with her new romantic interest, Roosa has to deal with the ghost of an ex-lover.

How does it feel to be a procrastinating perfectionist who is afraid of the dark, while living in a place where darkness consumes half the year? What is space anxiety and its relation to fear of infinity? All this and more is revealed in Hanna Hovitie's visually innovative comedy, framed as a circle as opposed to the usual filmic square. A love letter to all the people who, like the author, feel they don't belong.

A woman’s life is difficult, because her head is a cat.

Emotions is an episodic film compiled from the theatrical short films of four first-time directors. Directed by Kalevi Korte, Liukastelua tells the story of a young man who helps a woman who has slipped on the street. The accident marks the beginning of a romance. Confiteor, based on a screenplay by Jyrki Lappi-Seppälä and directed by Jaakko Talaskivi, is a story about the friendship between two men that ends with the death of one of them. Leena Salokangas' Toivo, rakkaus (Hope, Love) is the story of a young married woman's one-night stand with a stranger. The final episode is Kristiina, directed by Asko Tolonen. Kristiina Halkola, who plays the title character, suspects she is pregnant.

Cosmic Cowboy is an uncensored self-portrait of Finnish country musician Pekka Myllykoski of the legendary Freud Marx Engels & Jung. This new documentary follows the dark downward spiral from mainstream success to his last drunken days. Cosmic Cowboy is a documentary film about friendship between two men and a chemical that binds them, fuels them and ultimately burns them down.

A film about a girl whose best friend is a fish and her crush is a raccoon. Ruutana is a film about the need to touch. You can't live alone, but on the other hand you can't force someone to be close to you.

The story of a woman who leaves her family in Finland because she is offered a job at a refugee camp in Africa.

A documentary about Finnish sauna.

Set at the edge of the Baltic Sea, the film unfolds within waters shaped by eutrophication and declining oxygen levels. Combining underwater footage with phytograms made from marine algae, the film moves between microscopic observation and drifting marine landscapes.

Wilderness guide Tapani Lappalainen rents a wilderness cabin to two German tourists. Soon, he finds himself on the run after being accused of murdering his own brother. In addition to the local hotel owner, many others seem to be involved in the situation.

The film presents Finnish fauna.

An industrial film about the Finnish war reparations to the Soviet Union

A zombie attends to a kino kabaret.

Based on Lauri Viita's fairy tale. In Kukunor, two trolls, Kukunor and Kalahari, read books and travel the world in their dreams.

Enter the Flow is an audiovisual incantation that flows to the source, gliding from small streams into colossal currents of consciousness. It is a spell of cosmic and earthly forces, asking you to release fear and surrender to life. The mantra-like flow of the work polishes the bedrock of being, growing stronger and eventually breaking through the suffocating obstacles in its path. Words received as a gift from the lower world merge with ancient Finnish bear-origin incantations, forming a bridge between the past and the present.

Actor Antti Litja from the Tampere Workers’ Theatre arrives in Tampere by train, sees the sights and looks for a local girl, actress Tuija Vuolle from the Tampere Theatre. The film by the young director Asko Tolonen evokes a fresh spirit from the 1960s.

Photos from the III Railway Workers' Song and Music Festival in Jyväskylä in 1953.

Priest and the Ugly Christmas Tree is a small Christmas tale about a recently appointed pastor, who notices how the suburban residents are struggling in the slushy, Finnish Christmas landscape. He decides to cheer them up, get the largest Christmas tree in the area and recruit the community to help decorate it. Based on true events from a few years ago.

Henri Pyhäpuu, the star of a popular soap opera, wants to change the image of his role, but director Teuvo Tulimaa plans to make the character an even more ruthless killer. Henri flees from his hateful fans and wakes up on an island inhabited by a mute family, where a cult-like drama begins due to a bet from the previous evening. The film combines realism and surrealism, offering a multi-layered and intelligent experience through dark humor. It is aimed at a more mature audience that appreciates complex and provocative cinematic art.

You can find a bit of buttermilk grass here and there: in both natural and urban environments, sometimes even in old film footage. A plant that is hardly noticed in the wild as a weed, but in laboratories it opens up a new understanding of hereditary memory and the structuring of life. The poetic essay film follows the plant from the natural habitat of the hentolite weed to the archives and cellular evolution. Whizzing camera shots and expeditions deep into the plant's innards are addictive to the eye. New technology depicts the vibrant reorganisation of life, which on the big screen looks like a mysterious fantasy world. The film is accompanied by the impressive music of a symphony orchestra. Together with the music, the film is at times reminiscent of two sections of Disney's 1940 cartoon Fantasia: the abstract animation in the first section and the formation of the Earth and the birth of life in the fourth. The film premiered at the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival 2022.

Tom of Finland (1920–1991) is arguably the world's most influential creator of queer-erotic art. Pioneer of homoerotic iconography in the previous century (both in the years of prohibition and in the era of acceptance and liberation), he contributed to decriminalization and shaping the identity and aesthetics of an entire movement. TOM House – The VR Experience welcomes visitors into the legendary Los Angeles residence of Tom. This immersive experience features three thematic documentary tours in the house, and a virtual art gallery which presents Tom’s work like never experienced before.

A trio sets out for a drug-filled quest during New Year's Eve when one of them spirals into a terrifying drug trip and overdoses after which it is up to his two friends to save his life and bring him back from madness

Grandma is an inventor, grandpa is a DIY enthusiast, and their dog is a rascal. This summer is going to be fun.

Christmas mystery

Two lovers living in separate countries spend their last day together, having sex and eating. A musical melodrama accompanied by Orthodox Christian choir music.

Early Years (xiao shi hou) takes place in Helsinki, Finland and centers around a Chinese immigrant father-daughter duo: Ba Ba and Mei Mei. We follow the two on a surprise outing to the island, organised by Ba Ba. As the day goes by, carefully and gently, we observe the many subtle things left unsaid between parent and child.

Water Tower Symphony is a tribute to Finnish water towers and the memories associated with them in the form of an experimental film. As the title suggests, the piece gives the spotlight to Finnish water towers, the real eye-catchers of the local constructed environment. According to recent studies, these towers have become town symbols that create local identity. Water Tower Symphony not only documents but also revives this kind of everyday environment typical to Finland.

Dream and reality collide in the life of a young man.

Manufacturing of ceramic objects at the Arabia factory.

An experimental lo-fi documentary shot on a vintage smartphone, weaving cinepoetic images of Spoleto with AI-generated medieval Italian verse inspired by its modernist sculpture heritage.

On a dark autumn night, a rabbit and a squirrel set out to recreate an unexplainable phenomenon the rabbit had experienced at a house party. While making their way to a distant field, the rabbit recounts the events of the party shadowed by uncertainty, awe, and a longing for connection.

A short film using classic 2D animation techniques. A devoted son describes his epic achievements and exploits to his mother in letters. Over time, however, it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.

Puuilofritsu is about buying too many tools from Puuilo (hardware store) which results in getting a Puuilo hickey.

Four legs, four legs, my dearest has four legs. The lives of dogs and humans are forever entangled. This film inspects the agency of dogs in a world dictated by humans and the possibility of companionship that transcends different species. These dogs aren’t interested in film, but what are they interested in? On four legs, she legs it, four legs, four legs.

This visually idiosyncratic short documentary concerns itself with immigrants who fled their troubled home countries to settle in safe Finland. However, in their adopted home country, they have run into street violence. By telling the story of these brothers the film asks if it is possible to break the cycle of violence through one’s own actions and to live without constantly having to look over one’s shoulder? The film’s aesthetic choices are bold and alienate the viewer from the violence of the subject to just the right degree.

MY FINGERS DIG IN2 THE FLESHY SURFACE AS I PULL IT 2WARDS ME

An exploration of the personal and historical struggles of the Sámi people, navigating imprisonment, protests, and surreal encounters, providing a unique insight into one man's extraordinary journey.

Three teammates unwind from a hockey game defeat by testing the limits of their friendship. The film is a part of The Hotel Room -short film series, in which all eight stories are set in the same room and told by different up-and-coming filmmakers.

Case of Stares and Staircase.

A B-ish movie styled short in drama, thriller and comedy genres. As a filmmaker, I aim to create noticable, memorable moments into cultural time, and I wish the punchline of this film does just that. I also hope you like nuts.

Short movie about the importance of well-being at work.

A documentary film about punk that lives from generation to generation.

'Please hold' is a short film about a teenage girl, who is desperately waiting for her mother to come home. But just how much longer can she wait?

Urban explorer finds a creepy abandoned building.