The Finnish Music Video Competition's screenings are now out!

Behm, Käärijä, and hundreds of others - The Finnish Music Video Competition once again receives a large number of videos

The Finnish Music Video Compeittion received an impressive number of videos once again – a total of 325. Out of these, 98 videos were selected for the competition series. You can find the selected videos here.

The competition series is divided into ten screenings, and, following the festival's sports theme, it naturally takes the form of a decathlon. The names of the screenings are 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter run, 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500-meter run. Among the competition videos are fantastic videos for artists like Arppa, Käärijä, Behm, Pearly Drops, and Cledos.

Joel Karppanen, the artistic director of the Oulu Music Video Festival, comments on the competition as follows:

"In Finland, music videos are increasingly made from an artist-centric perspective, rather than for promoting sales. Often, these works are created on a small budget, but a DIY spirit doesn't just mean amateur activities. The decathlon can also be thought of through the lens of music video creators: they are the decathletes of their own lives, often doing everything themselves - producing, scripting, directing, filming, and editing their videos from start to finish."

Videos that did not make it into the competition will also be shown at the festival on the big screen in review screenings. Additionally, all videos are archived in the world's largest archive of domestic music videos, which with this year's videos included, totals 7297 works.

"One prevailing trend is the nostalgia for the turn of the millennium, which became popular at least by the time Charlotte Welles partially filmed Aftersun with a MiniDV camera. At least equally popular is the addition of film grains digitally, while industrial-style videos of heavy metal bands with strobe lights never really went out of fashion, Karppanen continues."

Fame and Fortune

The winners will be awarded at the Pumpeli Gala on Saturday, August 24. The awarded videos are selected by an independent jury, which this year includes Scottish director and VFX artist Felix Geen, Swedish director Matt Broadley, and Eleonoora Riihinen, a journalist and critic from Helsingin Sanomat.

Directors of the domestic competition videos compete not only for eternal honor but also for the main prize, the Golden Pumpeli, which the winner receives from Kinos Rentals, a 2000 euro main prize. A promising young director will be awarded the Teen Pumpeli and a prize offered by Toast, the most meritorious post-production work with a gift card provided by Fimeko. The best cinematography will be awarded the Lens Pumpeli and equipment rental prizes sponsored by Valofirma and Kamerafirma. The winner of the audience vote will be awarded a gift card from Real Deal.

In addition, the jury will award four meritorious directors with honorary mentions, and the Music Promotion Foundation MES will distribute a 1500 euro Music Video Promotion Award to a person who has actively promoted Finnish music videos.

Celebrity Guests, Experimental Films, and High-Flying Music Video Screenings

Nostalgia-hungry festival-goers will enjoy the visit of Swedish director Matt Broadley, who has directed dozens of 90s eurodance videos, such as Ace of Base's All That She Wants video, which has garnered over 169 million views. Felix Geen, born in Scotland and working in Berlin, uses artificial intelligence in his music videos as a narrative tool, not merely for its own sake. Geen has directed videos for Yves Tumor, Orbital, and Avalon Emerson among others. Geen will present his works in a Master Class screening and also hold a limited-participation AI workshop. A retrospective screening will be held by Ima Iduozee, a dancer, choreographer, and director, who was last year named the city of Helsinki's Artist of the Year. The festival's screening guests also include the distinctive and critically acclaimed musician Orvokki's Carte Blanche screening.

OMVF's new artistic director Joel Karppanen has curated music video screenings showcasing the best and strangest in sports, sci-fi, and afrofuturism videos, as well as the cream of new European music videos.

The film program includes, among other things, a screening of music video-like, experimental short films featuring works by international notable creators such as Mika Taanila, Norman McLaren, and Takashi Ito. The world premiere at the festival will be given to the Austrian Johann Lurfin's amusing and touching cosmic symphony ★ (2017–2024) in its latest version. Equally mesmerizing are Anisia Uzeyman's and Saul Williams's romantic and political sci-fi musical Neptune Frost (2021) and The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, which swept the award tables in 2023. Glazer's Under the Skin (2013), propelled by Mica Levi's intoxicating electronic score, is also part of the festival's lineup.

The festival's afterparties will feature performances by Bjørn Torske (NO), Daniel Savio (SWE), Hassan Maikal, Jukka Nousiainen Trio, and Orvokki.

The Oulu Music Video Festival will be held from August 22 to 25 as part of the Oulu Festival Weeks. The rest of the festival's film program and schedule will be announced on July 19.

Professional accreditation is open at: https://www2.omvf.net/fi/pressi/akkreditointi

Press images: https://www2.omvf.net/en/press/gallery