What we found in Finland

OMVF in Finland. Photo: Petriina Kiiskinen

When you think of cutting-edge music videos and avant-garde film, northern Finland might not be the first place that comes to mind. But that’s exactly where TIFF journeyed in August — to the Oulu Music Video Festival (OMVF), the world’s oldest festival devoted entirely to music videos.

To be fair: Oulu is a far larger city than Tromsø, with over 200,000 inhabitants and a rich cultural history. Known as the capital of Northern Finland, it sits where the Oulujoki River meets the Gulf of Bothnia and has long been a hub for art, festivals, and innovation.

From August 21–24, Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) joined OMVF for its 32nd edition, bringing together film, music, and new collaborations across the North. Festival Director Lisa Hoen and Producer Igor Shaytanov represented TIFF, returning home with fresh ideas, new partners, and stories worth sharing.

– “I was genuinely impressed by the quality and the distinct character of the music videos. In Finland they have their own thing going on, and that’s what makes the videos so exciting to watch,” says Lisa Hoen, TIFF Festival Director, who was invited to serve on the jury for Best Music Video.

Over the course of the festival, she watched all 74 entries, alongside fellow jurors Anton Vanha-Majarnaa from Yle and filmmaker Mika Ronkainen – who TIFF audiences will remember from Screaming Men, winner of the Tromsø Palm in 2004.

Expanding internationally

This year also saw the launch of the OMVF Nordic Music Video Competition, the festival’s first international competition series. Open to creators from across the Nordic region, it brought twelve selected videos to Oulu. The Grand Prize went to Norwegian Sander August Dahl for Honningbarna – Rød Bic, with the jury’s reasoning:

“As always in great films, we loved the surprising plot twists. Let’s get more red Bics and set the offices on fire.”

An Honorable Mention was awarded to Icelandic duo Anna Róshildur B. Bøving and Simon Bendroth for Roshildur – Timi, ekki lioa.

OMVF Festival Director Joel Karppanen calls the partnership with TIFF invaluable:
– “The collaboration this year was invaluable. Having Lisa in the jury and The Gloria to score the silent films were important parts of a much bigger international wave that shaped this edition. Together we created a big music video family.”

For Karppanen, the Nordic competition was decisive:
– “Compared to previous years we had two to three times more accredited international guests — from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. It gave the whole festival a completely different vibe. I was struck by the warmth and the sense of community that radiated in Oulu during the festival.”

Looking ahead, OMVF’s ambitions are clear:
– “This is just the beginning. Next year the competition will expand to all European directors, and after that we will open it globally. And we already have plans with TIFF for more Silent Film Concerts, and to bring more of Oulu to Tromsø.”

Silent films vs. air guitars

A highlight of TIFF’s visit was an artistic collaboration on stage.

Together with OMVF, Tromsø-based sound artist Macfra performed a silent film concert with her project The Gloria. The program combined music and moving image in new ways, featuring five avant-garde shorts — including Robert Florey and Slavko Vorkapich’s The Life and Death of 9413, A Hollywood Extra (1927) and Walter Ruttmann’s Opus tetralogy (1921–24). The screening was organized in collaboration with Kulttuuritalo Valve, Interreg Aurora, and TIFF.

– “Many festivalgoers chose to see our Silent Film Concert, even as the Air Guitar World Championships were rocking out next door — and that says something,” laughs Igor Shaytanov, TIFF Producer.

And for Shaytanov, the concert summed up what this collaboration is all about:
– “At TIFF we’ve always been closely tied to music — through Silent Film Days, concerts, and our many parties. Here in Oulu we brought a musician, they curated films, and together we created something new on stage. This is just the start of a collaboration we will build on, bringing more Nordic content to Tromsø and new artistic exchanges across the region.”

Why it matters

Hoen adds a broader perspective: – “There may be a border between Norway and Finland, but in reality we share culture and history. By working together, we create a stronger and more relevant community in the North – and we open new opportunities for artists and audiences alike.”

Though modest in size, OMVF has earned a reputation for ambition and a strong artistic profile in Finland’s cultural scene. It also gave birth to one of Oulu’s quirkiest and most famous exports – the Air Guitar World Championships, which began as a side-event in 1996.

Among all the highlights, the organizers themselves stood out. Hoen puts it simply:
– “They are warm, well-organized, and take art seriously. That makes them a perfect partner for TIFF.”

What TIFF found in Finland was more than a festival. It was friendship, artistry, and collaborations that will carry on in the future.

Written by: Jonas Solberg Rydningen