Arts & culture

Kaurismäki in Karkkila: How Finland’s most famous film director and a writer started a small-town cinema

One year when the acclaimed film director Aki Kaurismäki made his annual return to Finland from his winter home in Portugal, he wound up creating a cinema in a disused industrial building.

Arts & culture Performing arts

For Finnish Culture Day, six videos transport you to festivals and arts events across Finland

We celebrate Finnish Culture Day, February 28, with six videos that invite you to experience cultural events – mostly music festivals, but we also throw in some dance and architecture.

Arts & culture Architecture

Creating architecture and art from ice and snow in the Finnish far north

A rare, fascinating kind of construction expertise is on display in the wintery landscape of Finnish Lapland. We head north for a look at buildings made out of snow and ice.

180.2 litres

Quantity of dairy products consumed annually per person

Source: Statistics Finland

Arts & culture Cuisine

Michelin-starred Finnish chef gets creative with plant-based food

Chef Kim Mikkola and his team achieved a Michelin star at their Helsinki restaurant, Inari, with vegetarian dishes accounting for 95 percent of the menu. (Article includes recipe.)

Arts & culture Webpick

Finland’s film and TV industry is thriving and finding new audiences

The Finnish film and TV sector is reaching new viewers, picking up awards and offering an excellent base for international collaboration, writes Hanna Vuorinen, head of Film in Finland.

Greatest press freedom in the world

Source: Reporters without Borders

Arts & culture Music

Finnish ambient music nourishes the soul in restless times

From railway stations to festivals to yoga studios, Finnish ambient music and sound art provide a meditative soundtrack for life.

Arts & culture Food

Baking batches of biscuits: A Finnish collection of cookie recipes

Once upon a time, cookies had nothing to do with computers. Chef Timo Lepistö presents a list of cookies that people in Finland like to bake. You can always find room for just one more cookie.

Arts & culture Music

His birthday became Finnish Music Day: Using dance to depict the life of composer Jean Sibelius

Finnish Music Day happens annually on December 8, the birthday of Jean Sibelius, the country’s most famous composer. For the occasion, we revisit action from the recent ballet Sibelius and talk with its choreographer, Jorma Elo.

292 votes

Amount of votes Finland got when winning the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest