The festival withdraws Russian short films

Due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, Tampere Film Festival has made the decision to withdraw three short films financed by the Russian government from the festival programme.

Four independent Russian films remain in the festival programme: Danila Kulin’s Cosmonauts (Russia 2020) and Mikhail Zheleznikov’s Reviziya (Russia 2020) in the International Competition and Ksenia Bashmakova’s Nobody’s Fly (Russia 2018) and Iona Roisin’s Muistatko (A Method) (Finland, Russia 2019) in the What the VAFT? screening.

– We think it is imperative that the voice of the Russian opposition is also heard at our festival. The situation is difficult for everyone and it is not the filmmakers’ fault, say Festival Director Jukka-Pekka Laakso and Executive Director Riina Mikkonen.

Tampere Film Festival will donate the proceeds of the Awarded Films 5 screening on Sunday 12 March to the Finnish Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Throughout the festival, the Finnish Red Cross’s collection boxes will be situated at the Festival Shop and all venue ticket sale points as well as the meeting point for the festival’s industry guests, the Festival Centre.