Tampere Film Festival Exceeded Its Visitor Goal

Photo: Érica Dahlström-Dezonne

One of the largest short film festivals in the world, Tampere Film Festival, was held for the 54th time 6–10 March.

The programme at venues and online gathered a total of around 34 000 visitors. Around 29 000 people attended film screenings as well as industry and audience events, such as panel discussions. Films available online have gathered around 4000 views so far. 918 guests got accredited to the festival.

In terms of attendance, Friday and Saturday were the busiest days of the festival week. These days included sold-out programming such as Rake Special, dedicated to old Finnish documentaries, two international screenings, Beats and Family Ties, and the Award Ceremony. Another audience favourite was Finnish Film Archive 2: The Best of Finnish Commercial Films, screened in collaboration with the National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI): Out of its two screenings, one was sold out.

The festival’s free programme drew a crowd as well. A popular free screening was Juho Kuosmanen’s series of short films at Tampere Cathedral, which gathered a total of 760 viewers, which is a record number.

The festival culminated on Saturday 9 March at its Award Ceremony at Tuulensuu Palace, where Nina Gantz’ animated film Wander to Wonder (The Netherlands, France, Belgium, 2023) was awarded the Grand Prix. The Main Prize in the National Competition series, over 30 minutes, went to Anna-Maija Heinonen and Krista Moisio’s documentary Hard to Break (Finland, 2023). Risto-Pekka Blom’s Oh No, Lasse Falls (Finland, 2023) won the Main Prize in the National Competition, under 30 minutes. The Main Prize in the Generation XYZ Competition, meant for genre films under 30 minutes, went to Salomé Crickx’ film Se dit d’un cerf qui quitte son bois (Belgium, 2023).

With a few exceptions, the competition films are available to watch on Festhome TV until Sunday 17 March. Additional information on our Online Screenings Page. A selection of short films awarded at this year’s film festival will be screened on Sunday 17 March at the Finnish National Gallery Kiasma.

The 55th international film festival will be held 5–9 March 2025.