At the heart of the Midnight Sun Film Festival beats the Festival Oasis Tent – a welcoming meeting place where the festival atmosphere continues between and after screenings. The programme includes discussions, workshops, children’s screenings, film quizzes, Yle’s Best of Sodankylä short films, and an atmospheric wine bar.
The Festival Oasis Tent (Kitisen Keidas) serves as the cosy living room of the Midnight Sun Film Festival, offering a diverse programme for festival guests of all ages from Wednesday to Saturday.
During the daytime, the programme features children’s screenings and interactive workshops for children and young people. The Oasis will also host topical discussions and screenings of Yle’s Best of Sodankylä (Sodankylän parhaat) short films, presented by director Jouko Aaltonen and festival executive director Ari Lehtola. Visitors can also join film discussions and test their movie knowledge in film quizzes. The discussions are hosted by Tuomas Rantanen and Iida Simes, while the quizzes are organised by Paavo Ihalainen.
The Oasis is operated by Rosebud, a long-standing festival partner, whose atmospheric wine bar will serve festival guests from Wednesday to Saturday starting at 2 pm.
The Festival Oasis Tent panel discussions tackle major contemporary themes. In Kemijoki Oy’s science panel, experts will discuss climate change and the future of the North. A discussion organised by Trade Union Pro will examine the rise of populism and the future of education and culture in Finland.
In cooperation with Yle, the Festival Oasis Tent will also welcome a special guest this year: on Friday, the Yle 100 Bus, touring Finland as part of Yle’s centenary celebrations, will arrive beside the Oasis. Live broadcasts from the festival will be aired from the bus on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday evening, the festival will also present a free screening of Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre, which will be broadcast simultaneously on television.
You can find the Festival Oasis Tent behind the school on the riverside. Come and take a break between films, meet new people, and continue the conversations deep into the bright summer night!
Festival Oasis Tent Programme Overview
Screenings
- Children’s Screenings
- Yle Best of Sodankylä
Workshops
- The Sound of Film Workshop for School-Age Children (in Finnish)
Discussions (in Finnish)
- Archive Film Alive – Archive Film in Film Culture and Film Education
- Kemijoki Oy Science Panel: The Climate Is Changing – Adapt or Be Left Behind
- Trade Union Pro Discussion: Populism Is Rising – Is Education and Culture Dying?
- Discussion with Finnish Filmmakers
- Cinema and All the Other Arts
- Filmihullu Pocket Book Releases: Sex and Godard
- Film Discussions
- Film Quizzes
Wine bar
- open from Wednesday to Saturday starting at 2 pm
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 10 June
11:00 am–1:00 pm Archive Film Alive – Archive Film in Film Culture and Film Education
Film education strengthens children’s and young people’s audiovisual literacy and equips them with the analytical and critical skills needed in the digital society of the 2020s. Why is film education especially important today, and what role can archive films play in it? The discussion brings together film educator and Executive Director of Kokkola Kinojuhlat Kaisa Kukkola, Executive Director of Espoo Ciné Tytti Rantanen, Senior Specialist at Koulukino Saara Konttinen, Cultural Coordinator of the Municipality of Sodankylä Anna Yliniemi, and visual designer and expert of the AFFN film network David Huspenina.
2:00 pm Wine Bar opens
Thursday, 11 June
9:00–10:10 am Children’s Screening: Family Masterclass – Art Adventure
11:00 am–12:00 pm Children’s Screening: Bolek and Lolek
2:00 pm Wine Bar 0pens
2:30–3:30 pm Cinema and All the Other Arts
Everything influences everything! Musician Marjo Leinonen, architect Hannu Salmi and bookseller Hannu Paloviita join journalist Iida Simes for a lively discussion. Cinema does not exist in isolation. It absorbs influences from literature, visual arts, music and countless other forms of artistic expression. This conversation explores the rich interplay between film and the wider arts.
4:30–5:30 pm Kemijoki Oy Science Panel: The Climate Is Changing – Adapt or Be Left Behind
Global warming is rapidly transforming conditions across the planet, with particularly strong effects in northern regions. Can we still slow down these changes, and how can we learn to live in a changing world? The discussion also touches on Markus Lehmusruusu’s festival film The Squirrel. Moderated by Tuomas Rantanen, the panel features Heikki Poikela, Director of Continuity Management at Kemijoki Oy, environmental activist Riikka Karppinen, researcher Anna Kontu, and filmmaker Katja Gauriloff.
Friday, 12 June
9:30–10:45 am Children’s Screening: Family Masterclass – Kaitafilmi Korkeasaari
11:30 am–12:30 pm The Sound of Film Workshop for Children Aged 7–12
Have you ever wondered what a film sounds like behind the scenes – and wanted to create those sounds yourself? In this hands-on workshop, participants dive into the world of film sound together with Oscar-winning foley artist Heikki Kossi. You will learn how sound effects are created for films, experiment with making sounds yourself, and discover how everyday objects can be used to build atmosphere and shape the audience’s emotional experience. The workshop is held in Finnish and supported by Genelec. Registration is available here.
1:00–2:00 pm Children’s Screening: Bolek and Lolek
2:00 pm Wine Bar opens
2:30–3:30 pm Trade Union Pro Discussion: Populism Is Rising – Is Education and Culture Dying?
Have the government’s ideological policies eroded the foundations of Finnish education and culture? People are turning against one another, and democracy appears increasingly fragile. Is there anything that can be done? Moderated by Tuomas Rantanen and organised by Trade Union Pro, the panel features Henrik Haapajärvi, Director of Public Affairs at Pro, actor Tommi Korpela, Professor Emeritus Martti Koskenniemi, and Executive Director of Espoo Ciné Tytti Rantanen.
4:00–5:00 pm Yle Best of Sodankylä, Season 5 (2025)
Director Jouko Aaltonen and producer Ari Lehtola present the Midnight Sun Film Festival mini-documentaries from 2025, featuring festival guests including Vesa-Matti Loiri, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and Agnès Varda.
Saturday, 13 June
9:45–10:50 am Children’s Screening: Family Masterclass – Art Adventure
11:15 am–1:05 pm Children’s Screening: Escape to Magic Mountain (110 min)
2:00 pm Wine Bar opens
2:30–3:30 pm Discussion with Finnish Filmmakers: “An Artist Must Have a Backbone”
What makes a film meaningful? Recurring themes in Finnish films presented at Sodankylä in 2026 include deeper human values, the motivations behind artistic creation, and the aspects of our world worth preserving. Family, therapy, friendship and artistic communities take centre stage – along with one squirrel. The panel features Aleksi Salmenperä (Father’s Day), Tommi Korpela (Father’s Day, Therapy, Don’t Ruin the Party by Talking About Death), Pia Andell (Don’t Ruin the Party by Talking About Death), Jukka Kärkkäinen (A Piece of the Most Beautiful Finland), Yasmin Najjar (TJ28), as well as Arja Saijonmaa and Marko Talli, whose documentary Sing for Me, Arja premieres at the festival and provides the quotation used in the title. The discussion is moderated by Liselott Forsman (Nordisk Film & TV Fond).
4:00–5:00 pm Filmihullu Pocket Book Releases: Sex and Godard
Filmihullu is Finland’s oldest film magazine – now also available as stylish pocket books. This event celebrates the publication of the two latest Filmihullu editions, focusing on Sex and Godard. Joining the discussion are Filmihullu editorial board member and Emmanuelle scholar Tytti Rantanen, actor Timo Torikka, and Iida Simes, contributor to Filmihullu and commissioning editor at Rosebud. The Filmihullu pocket books combine classic film writing with fresh perspectives. Contributors include Peter von Bagh, VP Makkonen and Hannu Waarala.
5:00–6:00 pm Yle Best of Sodankylä, Season 6 (2026)
Director Jouko Aaltonen and producer Ari Lehtola present the latest Midnight Sun Film Festival mini-documentaries from 2026, featuring, among others, Dominique Sanda, who visited the festival last year, and Jerzy Skolimowski, a festival guest in 1997.