Ciné-Concert, Cult Favorites, and Finnish Premieres – OMVF’s Program and Schedule Announced

The 31st Oulu Music Video Festival to Showcase Top Films

The Oulu Music Video Festival brings to Finland the premiere of Argentine director Lola Arias's film Reas (2024). It is a delightful hybrid film: a documentary prison musical. The work, dripping with queer joy, features former inmates of a women's prison in Buenos Aires, most of whom are transgender women, rewriting their life stories and futures in empowering musical and vogue numbers.

The festival will also host the first Finnish showing of Johan Grimonprez's award-winning Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (2024). This breathtaking and stimulating essay film is propelled by the music of jazz legends like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Nina Simone, and explores Patrice Lumumba's assassination, the Congo Crisis, the Cold War, and the struggle for freedom. The film will later be shown at the Love and Anarchy festival.

Cult classic Visitors from the Sky (1992) by the late director Juhan Af Grann. The TV documentary, last shown in Finland in the 1990s, was the first UFO film by the expert in paranormal phenomena and the undeniable expert on flying saucers.

A Rare Ciné-Concert and Contemporary Art

A real gem of the 2024 festival is the accompanied silent film concert. OMVF’s artistic director Joel Karppanen dived into the archives of the Oulu Film Centre and emerged with three sports-themed film copies.

Charlie on Roller Skates (1916) is, as the name suggests, a slapstick farce by Charlie Chaplin – nothing more, nothing less. In The Match with Laurel and Hardy (1932), billiards are played and more collisions occur, culminating in a boxing match, a direct homage to Chaplin’s City Lights. The screening concludes with a Compilation of Speed Sports, an unknown found film reel, perhaps recorded in the 1950s or earlier. This documentary compilation features water skiing, human cannonballs, tightrope walking, and monkey boxing: pure Jackass and attraction cinema!

All films at the screening will be shown from 16mm film. The silent movie concert will be accompanied by the godfather of Norwegian techno Mental Overdrive (Per Martinsen, b. 1966).

The festival’s sports theme extends into an exhibition at the Valve Gallery. Curated by Joel Karppanen, the exhibition features works by seven Finnish artists: Noora Geagea, Einari Hyvönen, Aatos Ketvel, Eetu Kevarinmäki, Jussi Lipasti, Taneli Okkonen, Maiju Pohjanheimo.

Professional Program on Money and Artificial Intelligence

For professionals, there is a workshop by Felix Geen on the use of AI in music videos. The Scottish artist has worked for clients like Coca-Cola, Porsche, Yves Tumor, and LONE. This hands-on training, with limited participation capacity, is organized in cooperation with Business Oulu.

The festival's seminar will discuss money. The only direct funding channel suitable for music videos in Finland is offered by the Music Promotion Foundation's AV production support, but with cuts in the culture field, the Foundation's capacity to support music videos is now threatened. How to be creative and succeed as a music video maker when funding is increasingly uncertain and budgets are being cut everywhere? In the seminar, Tommi E. Virtanen will talk about the foundation's support activities and advise on how to make a good grant application. In the panel discussion, OMVF’s artistic director, director Joel Karppanen, artist and founder of Fonal Records Sami Sanpäkkilä, and director Jirina Alanko will discuss how they fund their videos and work.

Mentoring sessions offer creators the chance for confidential coaching. In these 30-minute personal expert meetings, creators can receive feedback on their videos and discuss concerns, such as tips for writing grant applications and questions related to marketing and distributing videos.

Final Artist Releases for Audiovisual Afterparties

The festival's afterparties already have confirmed artists to support existing acts. Inspired by acid lines and can techno, Vilja Valle will perform a DJ set on festival Friday, alongside Daniel Savio and Hassan Maikal, and Otilia, known from the cultish collective, will perform on Saturday's afterparty between Orvokki and Bjørn Torske. Visuals for the clubs are provided by VJ LNA and VJ Jani Pitkänen.

The Oulu Music Video Festival will take place from August 22–25 as part of the Oulu Festival Weeks. The entire festival program, including previously announced items, can be seen at: https://www.omvf.net

Press images: https://www2.omvf.net/en/press/gallery
Accreditation: https://www2.omvf.net/fi/pressi/akkreditointi/