Finnish films at autumn festivals
Finnish shorts, docs and features of many genres are touring the international festivals.
Image above: from the short film Caeneus. Photographer: Aku Koskinen / Aamu Film Company.
Vinski and the Viking Treasure victorious at Schlingel
Family adventure Vinski and the Viking Treasure has won the European Children’s Film Award at the Schlingel Film Festival in Chemnitz, Germany. The film is directed by Juha Wuolijoki and produced by his company Snapper Films.
Schlingel International Film Festival for Children and Young Audience took place October 2–10, 2026.
International premiere for Blue Baby in Warsaw
Klaus Härö, Laura Birn ja Kai Nordberg Varsovassa. Kuva: Making Movies.
Blue Baby, a drama directed by Klaus Härö, had its international premiere at Warsaw Film Festival. The film was programmed in the Animus – Cinema of Values section which explores universal human values. Härö’s 10th feature film is his fourth collaboration with the production company Making Movies.
Warsaw Film Festival is ongoing until October 18, 2026.
Short film Caeneus kicks off its festival journey
Short fiction film Caeneus, directed by August Joensalo and written by Joensalo and Aarni Pieski, will have its world premiere in the International Competition of the Uppsala Short Film Festival. Other upcoming festivals include Leeds International Film Festival and Nordic Film Days in Lübeck. The film is produced by Aamu Film Company.
Other Finnish films in the International Competition at Uppsala are The Beauty of Automobiles by Jukka Kärkkäinen, I am a River by Heidi Piiroinen, and Killing Me Softly by Viena Kytöjoki.
Uppsala Short Film Festival takes place October 19–25, 2026. Leeds International Film Festival takes place October 29 – November 15, 2026.
12 Finnish films in Lübeck
This year marks the 68th edition of the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck, Germany. Two films from Finland are in the Feature Film Competition: Blue Baby by Klaus Härö and The Squirrel by Markus Lehmusruusu. The Beauty of Errors by Jukka Kärkkäinen and Arctic Circle of Lust by Markku Heikkinen are in the Documentary Competition.
The festival programme also includes eight Finnish short films, two drama series and two immersive works, see more on the programme page.
Nordic Film Days in Lübeck takes place November 4–8, 2026.
Finnish project pitching at IDFA Forum
We wrote about the Finnish films at the International Film Festival Amsterdam at the end of September – PICNIC – In Light Invisible to the Human Eye, by Jan Ijäs, and the minority co-production The Bus of Broken Hearts are in the Short Film Competition, and Pirjo Honkasalo’s classic film The 3 Rooms of Melancholia is also in the programme.
The co-production event IDFA Forum got 859 submissions this year, and among the lucky chosen ones is This body is my final address by August Joensalo. The documentary feature is produced by Emilia Haukka for Aamu Film Company. The autobiographical film has received development support from the Finnish Film Foundation.
IDFA takes place November 12–22, 2026 in Amsterdam.
Nightborn at the BFI London Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival is the autumn festival highlight for Nightborn, a horror film from Hanna Bergholm, produced by Komeetta. After its premiere in the Berlinale Competition, the film has seen its cinema premiere already in Czechia, Mexico, Slovakia ja Turkiye. Nightborn is distributed by Shudder in North America and the UK.
BFI London Film Festival is ongoing until October 18, 2026.
Minority co-production Good Girls to premiere at Ji.hlava
Good Girls, a Swedish-Finnish co-production, will have its premiere at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival. The feature documentary directed by Ania Winiarska follows the lives of Polish teenaged girls living in a Catholic reformatory.
The film’s sound designer is Juuso Oksala and the Finnish co-production company is Tekele Productions.
Finnish films at Ji.hlava include the short films I am a River (dir. Heidi Piiroinen) and Ad Infinitum (dir. Seppo Renvall).
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival takes place October 23 – November 1, 2026.