Imagine a relaxed movie festival in an exotic setting with a sunlight round the clock. Welcome to The Midnight Sun Film Festival, where top directors, up-and-coming talent, an international audience and everyday folk come together under the midnight sun. No frills, just pure love for cinema.
This festival takes place in Sodankylä, a village located in the heart of Finnish Lapland, some 120 kilometers into the Arctic Circle. Films are shown in four venues for 24 hours a day – timeless masterpieces are presented alongside the most engrossing contemporary films, and music films are taken to a new level in the karaoke screenings.
As dark as it gets.Photo: Jonne Sippola
In 2015, a year before turning 30, the festival was acknowledged with the first EFFE Award as “one of the twelve trend-setting festivals in Europe”. It was said to boast one of the most unusual atmospheres of any festival in the world, which is understandable when you consider that the famous Kaurismäki brothers are amongst the festival’s founders.
Finnish films to watchThe Fencer Photo: Making Movies In the early 1950s, an ambitious young fencer, fleeing from Stalin’s secret police, finds himself teaching rural children in an Estonian coastal village. Director Klaus Härö’s touching drama premiered in Finland in March 2015, and has been nominated for the Golden Globe Award in the Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language category. The only other Finnish film nominated for a Golden Globe Award was The White Reindeer, which was triumphant in 1957. Iron Sky: The Coming Race Photo: Making Movies Iron Sky 2 is a dark science fiction comedy inspired by conspiracy theories. It is a sequel to the 2012 cult hit Iron Sky and includes both new and familiar characters. The movie is directed by Timo Vuorensola, who is a firm advocate of crowdsourcing. The film is written and produced together with its future audience, making the production process and outcome one of a kind. The clever crowdfunding campaigns had raised near to one million dollars by the end of 2015. The release of Iron Sky: The Coming Race is scheduled for 2017. |
By Maarit Niemelä, June 2016
