OMVF MENTORING PROGRAM WAS A SUCCESS!

In early 2025, Oulu Music Video Festival launched Finland’s first mentoring program for music video directors. The goal of OMVF Next masterclass was to foster the unique voices of the most talented new-generation filmmakers, support their professional development, and create artistically ambitious new Finnish music videos.

Five directors were selected through an open call: Carmen Baltzar, Krasimir Jovanovic Hyvärinen, Aatos Ketvel, Ilona Lehtonen, and Joonas Lind. The mentors were acclaimed filmmakers Mika Taanila and Marcus Söderlund. During the six-month course, the young directors developed new works in workshops and one-on-one sessions with the mentors.

Three videos and one installation completed during the course premiered in August at the Oulu Music Video Festival: Ilona Lehtonen’s Modem – Image, Joonas Lind’s Pluuto – Paradiis, Aatos Ketvel’s Kirsikkapuu – Kirsikkapuu kaatuu, and Krasimir Jovanovic Hyvärinen’s Solace. The works were screened in a free public program and also participated in the national music video competition. The independent jury—Anton Vanha-Majamaa, Mika Ronkainen, and Lisa Hoen—awarded Aatos Ketvel with the Teen Pumpeli, a prize for a promising young director.

“The program strengthened my professional identity and eased the loneliness often connected to making DIY music videos. The best part was all the people I got to meet and the curious and critical conversations we had about music videos. I also gained a lot of practical knowledge about budgeting and distributing videos,” says Aatos Ketvel.

The process was also rewarding for the mentors, who praised the group’s enthusiastic atmosphere and strong group dynamics.

“In courses like this, you can bounce ideas around with a low threshold. It was wonderful to see participants discussing and pitching in on each other’s projects. Mentoring can be especially helpful in distilling concepts and ideas to their essence. Often, we ended up talking about cutting unnecessary embellishments and keeping the project within its frame”, says Mika Taanila.

According to Taanila, the future of Finnish music video is bright. Young creators have excellent skills to produce inventive work even on small budgets.

“This generation, who grew up with smart devices and games, has confidence and boldness. They master different genres and their nuances. The finished videos were all quite different from one another”, Taanila notes.

Kirsikkapuu – Kirsikkapuu kaatuu and Modem – Image are already available on YouTube. Joonas Lind’s video for Pluuto will be released later in the fall. The directors are also already working on new projects.

“The next Kirsikkapuu video will be a collage animation for an unreleased track. I’m interested in all experiments that push the boundaries of the music video as a medium”, says Ketvel.

OMVF Next was supported by the Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture AVEK and the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation. Production companies Breakfast and Kameron also contributed to the program content.