Midnight Sun Film Festival 2025-2026

ongoing

Founded in 1986 by celebrated directors, Aki and Mika Kaurismäki, the Midnight Sun Film Festival is the longest running feature film festival in Finland. Main activity of the MSFF ass. is to organize an exceptional five-day-event Midnight Sun Film Festival (since 1986) in the remote northern territory of Finland. The core mission of the festival is to invite filmmakers to present and discuss their work with the audience. In 2025-26 the objective is to bring together filmmakers, film professionals and journalists, students from various age groups, local people and festival visitors from Finland and across Europe. The organization seeks to offer the audience new angles to forgotten films, share valuable insight and generate dialogue with the masters and make discoveries of contemporary European cinema with over 250 screenings (inc. all year-round activities). The organization also takes active part in developing the landscape of Finnish Film Education and promotes festival titles beyond the actual event with numerous activities. The role of the organization is to develop Midnight Sun Film Festival with attention to detail. With over 80% of the screenings being premieres in the Lappish region, the festival continues with its strong international brand to play a vital part in shaping the cultural landscape of northern Finland. The objective for the coming edition is to sustain the high level of festival programming with a strong lineup of international filmmakers as well as to extend the program with all year-round activities by organizing numerous screenings and being part of educational events around Finland. In 2025-2026 the festival is expected to attract an audience of 80 000 (two editions) entries and over 500 industry and partner guests as well as domestic and international press representatives. The aim is also to utilize the festival's unique profile and extensive contact network, so that all-year training and development projects can be organized with partners