You give Roy Andersson 76 minutes, and he'll give you the universe.

This documentary tells a story about gender diversity by following the life of Amber, a Swedish teenager.

The Inuit word anerca refers to the soul, the breath of life. For these indigenous cultures in the Arctic Circle, dance is a crucial medium for portraying the world.

Charming selection of animated short films for the little film lovers.

A fresh selection of short animation gems.

This film, which follows the matriarch of a community of women in the post-war Netherlands, was awarded the best foreign language film Oscar in 1995 – making Marleen Gorris the first female winner in the category.

A rising star of Finnish cinema, Hamy Ramezan's fiction feature debut is a subtle and soft film that you can sink into, guaranteed to bring a tear to your eyes.

A stranger than fiction documentary about two young women, who thought they were doing a funny prank – and ended up being charged in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of Kim Jong-un.

A dreamy, sensual summer story of a delayed coming of age, dancing in the streets, and good conversation, with music from and an appearance by the well-known Spanish singer Soleá Moreno.

With a protagonist (phenomenal Eliza Scanlen) battling to resolve childhood and adulthood, first love and last, in a compressed space of time, Shannon Murphy’s remarkable debut keeps its pain close to home.

Damiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo's (Boys Cry, HIFF 2018) newest is a dark, atmospheric dive into a suburban world where everything is slightly twisted.

The British Short Film and British Short Animation categories at the EE British Academy Film Awards celebrate innovative and experimental short fiction and non-fiction films and animation. The screening is free of charge and is made possible by the British Council.

Kantemir Balagov (Closeness, HIFF 2017) brilliantly deploys shock tactics to weigh the horrors of peace against the trauma of war in 1945 Leningrad.

A bag full of cash leads ordinary people to a life of crime in this South Korean thriller laced with black humour.

A documentary set across a three-year time period tracks the ups and downs of Roy Andersson’s unique and immersive method of filmmaking, and examines the true legacy of a master storyteller.

The death of a 13-year-old boy catapults events in an unassuming-looking drama that slowly seeps into your bones.

Riddled with rare archival footage and interviews, this documentary gives a glimpse into the life of Bruce Lee, who, besides being a superstar of kung fu cinema, was also an athlete, a teacher, and a philosopher.

The Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski is the best movie ever set mostly in a bowling alley.

Joana Andrade belongs to the male-dominated big wave surfer elite. To overcome the obstacles in her mind she learns to dive under ice.

After impressing Sundance audiences, the unconventional semi-constructed documentary shows life in a Vegas dive bar as it closes down.

Body Rights! screening focuses on bodies and bodily expression.

Gitanjali Rao's colourful animation binds together three stories of love from different eras and shakes up Bollywood clichés with a modern touch.

New York's rare book dealers discuss what they did for love in a wistful doc made for those who can still look at a book and see a magical object.

The new romantic comedy by Swedish director Lisa Aschan tells the story of 35-year-old Niki, who lives like she's in her twenties in Gothenburg's hipster haven – together with her teenage daughter.

The screening is curated by filmmaker Ulla Heikkilä.

The chasers become the chased as online paedophiles are exposed in the Czech documentary, in which three actors pretend to be 12-year-old girls.

The second feature film by Amanda Kernell (Sami Blood, HIFF 2017) follows the story of Alice, who books a last minute flight to Tenerife, takes her children along, and leaves no message behind in the midst of an unsolved custody case.

A lonely 14-year old connects with two boys raised at sea in a gorgeous, sensitive anime movie that takes a wild out-of-this-world turn. Watch it on the biggest screen you can!

Fascinating study of how even the seemingly impartial world of technology is subject to embedded racism and privilege.

This funny and touching drama about a partying juvenile delinquent who ends up pretending to be the priest of a country village was Poland's Oscar nominee.

Ilya Khrzhanovskiy's first film from his sprawling DAU experiment is thought-provoking and terrifying at once.

In Taiwan's long take auteur Tsai Ming-liang's new film, feared to be the director's last, days last for a lifetime and lifetimes are lived within a day.

Josefine Frida Pettersen (Skam) plays Mirjam, a Norwegian competitive dancer balancing between Jesus and glitter. One can only pray that everything works out fine in this intense family drama accompanied by house music and Holy Spirit.

The latest film by J-P Valkeapää tells a darkly humorous story of loss, love and the sweet pain of being.

Set during the Christmas holidays, Echo paints a portrait of today’s Iceland through 56 seemingly random vignettes.

EFA Shorts is the European Film Academy’s short film tour. The screening features a selection from the 20 European Short Film Candidates in 2019.

EFA Shorts is the European Film Academy’s short film tour. The screening features a selection from the 20 European Short Film Candidates in 2019.

EFA Shorts is the European Film Academy’s short film tour. The screening features a selection from the 20 European Short Film Candidates in 2019.

The anniversary screening of ELO Film School Finland features a selection of their students films from the 21st century.

An anarchic, liberated, and contagiously alive character study that feels like it was born out of a three-way between Amélie, Oldboy, and Gaspar Noé before maturing into a force of nature all its own.

When Xhafer arrives home after a work day, he finds a dead rat hanging on the gate. Exile is a psychological thriller about racism and its effects on the psyche.

One of the most horrifying films ever made, the dark and vulgar The Exorcist is both a gruelling horror pearl and a very punctual analysis of its own time.

Srdan Golubović depicts a hero of quiet determination in his bleak odyssey of one man’s fight for his children.

Award-winning short films and audience favourites from festivals around the world.

Short films directed by Greek filmmaker Jacqueline Lentzou.

Short films directed by Ulla Heikkilä.

Set in 1820s Oregon, master director Kelly Reichardt's new film is a heartfelt depiction of two buddies who, hoping for a better life, secretly milk a British chief's cow.

Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, Hannaleena Hauru’s metafictional sophomore feature is a hilariously satirical look at the filmmaking process.

The sensitive, funny and bittersweet feature debut of acclaimed 20-year-old poet Lukas Moodysson, the provocatively titled Fucking Åmål is a small gem.

A French family's life is mixed up by the birth of a baby, as the ex-convict grandfather arrives to greet his new grandchild.

Stepford wives on an acid trip! Desperately acceptance-seeking housewives let go of common sense in this whacky and kitschy suburban comedy.

A thorough look into the greatest and strangest moments of the most controversial TV journalist of Finnish history, Hannu Karpo.

Biopics about black women are rare, and Harriet doesn’t waste an opportunity to make a statement, positioning its titular subject as an intelligent, crafty, and vengeful superhero.

OR

Kasi Lemmons' film tells the story of a brave woman, who acted by the power of god with one goal in her mind: freedom.

Hayflower starting school makes Quiltshoe jealous and lonely in the latest film based on the popular books by sisters Sinikka and Tiina Nopola.

This visually and emotionally astonishing documentary offers you a glimpse into the life of trees, which is full of love and anarchy.

In almost every role of his career, Shia LaBeouf has seemed like he’s on fire. To some degree, this fascinating piece of work explains why.

The mother’s re-emerged cancer may be incurable, but the family bonds only grow stronger in the beautiful and very wise Norwegian film.

Heidi Ewing's heartfelt drama shows how to share stories of others with empathy and love.

Fernanda Valadez’s skilful, beautifully shot debut film depicts a mother’s search for her son, who has gone missing on a journey through Mexico’s dangerous border region.

A refined, moody documentary about a tour of the modern dance piece Crowd, set in the 1990s rave scene. The award-winning film takes the piece to new heights by revealing its surprising effects on the dancers' relationships and desires.

Tales and talents from Greece.

In this comedy, the Palestinian director Elia Suleiman seeks funding for a film about his homeland and gets reminded about his roots everywhere he goes.

A darkly funny, irreverent and freewheeling road movie continues the saga of the greasy Jesus Quintana, the bowling king of _The Big Lebowski. _Written by, directed by and starring John Turturro.

An entertaining documentary about the biggest and most controversial tv journalist of Finnish history, Hannu Karpo.

Journalist Susani Mahadura's first feature film makes history. Kelet is the first Finnish film that centers on a transgender person of color. Tens across the board, this voice has been missed!

A raw, intense animation from Polish director Mariusz Wilczyński is a fiercely miserable fable that mixes realism with a kind of dreamlike sleep-talking.

The ghastly forefather of expressionistic horror cinema accompanied by chilling and unique live music.

A small wonder of a film about the story that director Elina Talvensaari finds hidden in her home, buried under the stacks and piles of things.

The late composer Johann Johansson's multimedia work shot on stunning black and white 16mm film is one of the most original sci-fi movies in recent memory – narrated by the dazzling Tilda Swinton.

A beautiful, empathetic drama that follows two friends whose story wraps around themes of history and gentrification. Awarded in Sundance, the film is a melancholy tribute to the city and the people of San Francisco.

HIFF favourite Veiko Õunpuu's (Autumn Ball, 2008, Temptation of St. Tony, 2010) new film is once again proof of his visual punctuality and dark humour.

A lyrical documentary about the making of the 1973 horror classic by William Friedkin competed at the Venice Film Festival in 2019.

Lil' Buck rose to fame overnight after meeting the cellist Yo-yo Ma at a party. His unique dancing style is a dazzling fusion of Jookin and ballet.

A big European production based on the classic tale, in which The Aviator's story is complemented with a modern frame – and sound effects by foley artist Heikki Kossi.

Guatemala's recent history plays a central role in Jayro Bustamante's (Tremors, HIFF 2019) beautiful ghost story.

The screening features a selection of 2019 students films from Lodz Film School.

18-year-old trans woman Lola ends up on a bumpy road trip with her close-minded father.

A dramatic tale of a delirious journey from Rovaniemi to the Southeast Asian underworld, where the director Joonas Neuvonen searches for answers about the fate of his lost friends.

A touching documentary about the young Brisbane-born supermodel Madeline Stuart, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media – and Down syndrome.

I like to move it, move it! Short films about movement.

One of the best fashion films of recent years, this portrait of the iconoclastic and elusive designer Martin Margiela brims with creativity and craftsmanship.

What does sleep sound like? If you haven’t experienced Max Richter’s Sleep played live, Natalie Johns’ documentary gives a pretty good answer.

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s first masterpiece is a chilling true crime story about South Korea’s first serial killer investigation, which delves deep into both the desperate detectives' psyche and the South Korean society.

Midnight tales.

When a woman wages war against the co-operative of her home village, the earth quakes and shakes up the traditions and power structures of the steady community.

Television's spirited and always stylish Miss Fisher solves crimes under the Palestinian sun.

A Pakistani-English rapper on the brink of breaking through is leaving on an important tour, when a mysterious illness threatens to shatter his dreams.

A heartwarming and touching documentary about an elderly "spy" who infiltrates an old people’s home and ends up connecting with his fellow inmates.

Pioneer girl Ilze seeks her place in authoritarian Soviet Latvia in this autobiographical animated documentary that strongly speaks for peace and freedom.

After years of swimming in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus displaying remarkable curiosity.

Love & Anarchy Shorts – National Competition: Screening 1

Love & Anarchy Shorts – National Competition: Screening 2

Love & Anarchy Shorts – National Competition: Screening 3

Love & Anarchy Shorts – National Competition: Screening 4

Love & Anarchy Shorts – National Competition: Screening 5

A young woman travels to New York to terminate her pregnancy in this sensitive drama by Eliza Hittman that both exposes the inhumanity of the US healthcare system and offers a paean to female solidarity.

Night Visions International Film Festival is the biggest film festival in Scandinavia focusing on - but not limited to - fantasy, horror, science fiction and action cinema. The festival is arranged twice a year in Helsinki, with the next edition taking place from November 25 to November 29, 2020.

Teemu Nikki (Euthanizer, HIFF 2018) hits the prejudices residing in all of us, with a splash of dark humour, a trademark of the director.

German-born, out-and-proud Parvis questions his priorities upon meeting his first love in a refugee centre in this charming and delightfully upbeat coming-of-age tale.

Chloé Zhao's (The Rider, HIFF 2018) new film stars Frances McDormand as a woman who leaves for the west after losing everything in the Great Recession.

Short documentaries from the Nordic countries.

Nordic short films about family ties and tangles.

Nordic short films about being young.

Old Man is an ill-mouthed, head-over-heels kind of dude well known by the Estonians from the highly popular comic strip Vanamees – and now he gets his own, batshit crazy film.

Daniel Roher's colourful rockumentary portrait of The Band's rise - and subsequent fall - from Bob Dylan's backing band to worldwide fame.

Václav Marhoul’s beautifully composed third feature is an unforgettable experience that boldly confronts the very worst horrors of war.

An artist’s two paintings are stolen from a Norwegian art gallery, which marks the beginning of a suprising friendship between the artist and the thief.

"I’m extremely happy to present Parasite in black and white and have it play on the big screen. It will be fascinating to see how the viewing experience changes when an identical film is presented in black and white." - Bong Joon Ho

OR

Parasite Black & White brings us back to the very roots of the film art.

The live action version of the classic Italian tale offers a ride full of weirdness, cruelty and pure magic.

The film reflects Hayao Miyazaki’s personal love of aviation, his political concerns and his fullest expression to date of a non-fantasy world resembling our own – albeit deliciously influenced by Humphrey Bogart and Howard Hawks movies.

The highly entertaining documentary shows how Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game series changed skateboarding from an underground lifestyle to mainstream pop culture.

A stunning French animated feature about a boy brought up in a bleak city. When he finds a stranger on a beach, drifted there from far away, a philosophical adventure begins.

Starring Eva Green and Matt Dillon, this elegantly shot feminist space odyssey sends a strong message about motherhood and sexism.

Viktoria, a scholar in the field of suicide, is invited to a psychiatric hospital to help a self-destructive young woman.

The documentary gives a glimpse into Tarantinoverse with fascinating anecdotes by Jamie Foxx, Diane Kruger, Michael Madsen, and Tim Roth. The director's adventures under the palm trees of Cannes are told through quirkily cartoonish animation.

In an era where people of colour seem to be considered guilty until proven innocent, and the best outcome for them in an encounter with the police is just plain surviving, Queen & Slim is nothing less than the radical reclaiming of a familiar narrative.

The screening features the winner short films and audience favourites of the National Competition 2020.

In the short film screening, co-curated by the Love & Anarchy festival and the feminist magazine Tulva, established power structures are challenged and shame is danced away!

A film taking on the incredible true story of the groundbreaking scientist Marie Sklodowska-Curie, featuring a fierce leading performance from Rosamund Pike.

In Claire Burger's (Party Girl, HIFF 2014) heartfelt drama, a family man's life with two teenage daughters is shaken up when his wife leaves him suddenly.

Director Sherry Hormann (Desert Flower) restores the voice of 23-year-old Aynur, shot point blank by her youngest brother for her family's "honour", in this striking true-to-life film.

Rauha and Nelli get excited about sports thanks to the strongman duo of Pöntinen. But Lennart and Ricky feel like losers – and that doesn't make them happy...

Kelly Reichardt’s debut feature is a mellow nineties version of a Bonnie & Clyde story featuring irony, a jazz soundtrack, and a dash of early Terrence Malick.

This energetic film about a teenage girl who suddenly finds herself struggling to take care of herself and her younger brother is reminiscent of Céline Sciamma's Girlhood (HIFF 2014).

A poetic story of a young couple hiding secrets from each other: the husband works for a sex doll factory and the best-selling doll has his wife's boobs, but what is the wife hiding from him..?

A mythic thriller about women and violence that poses ethical dilemmas and undercuts Euro-western narrative traditions with every twist of the plot and shift in tone.

Life is hard in rural Kyrgyzstan, but Jekshen has one gift. He can run faster than anyone else around, and when he’s running he can feel free.

Uje Brandelius is a 90s pop star, a popular radio personality, a father and a husband. His happy life is turned upside down when a surprising diagnosis changes everything.

Imagine Lynne Ramsay directing Carrie and you’re some of the way there: British writer-director Rose Glass´s sensational debut is equal parts horror film, character study and religious enquiry.

An elliptical, Lynchian thriller mixed with drowsy fantasy about villagers caught in the crossfire between the cartels and the state.

The film's hand-drawn style is expressive and resplendent with period details, focusing on a sad-eyed, hard-of-hearing girl with a gift for painting.

When police brutality leads to an all-out street war, two cops caught in the middle must fight for their lives in this intense and timely Danish thriller.

The screening of short documentaries looks at the concepts of home, family and environment.

Short documentaries about the miniature worlds around us.

The latest entrants in French short film.

The short film screening Sight and Sound: Ekström & Kossi sheds light on the collaboration between artist Saara Ekström, who works in film, photography and installations, and Heikki Kossi, known as a sound designer and foley artist. The screening features the films Tailor, Amplifier, Body All Eyes and Biblion.

This lyrical documentary film takes us to Själö - a hospital island, where socially transgressive women were kept in isolation, sometimes for decades.

A horror film that lingers in the boundaries between dreams and reality and dives deep into the mind, _Sleep _tempts the viewer into its tenderly horrifying grasp and doesn't let go, even when the alarm rings.

Mehdi Barsaoui’s tense and tightly scripted melodrama makes for a stunning debut feature that subverts the audience's expectations.

The documentary follows a visionary and ambitious group who creates Biosphere 2, a closed earthlike ecosystem that could be transferred into space if needed.

Magical, enchanted and enchanting feature from Hayao Miyazaki leaves you feeling lighter than air. Dubbed in North Sami with Finnish subtitles!

An endearing and quietly angry gay twilight romance.

François Ozon's latest, about a gay summer fling that ends in tragedy, is a sexy throwback to the French director's early films Criminal Lovers _and _Swimming Pool.

This bittersweet comedy-drama has a warm and accepting embrace of its girls: under the party whoops and confetti cannons there’s a deceptively complex and layered portrait of female solidarity in the face of ingrained sexism, racism and general male shittiness.

In the Belgian drama, the biggest wish of a psychosexually disordered Jonathan is to be freed from his own desire.

This year’s Berlinale winner investigates the human toll of Iran’s justice system from the perspective of those required to carry out capital punishment.

A Dardenne brothers-style slice of life drama brought an acting prize at San Sebastian for the film's astonishing leading lady, Greta Férnandez.

Ecological and spiritual concerns are braided in Lesotho-born filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese's startling Sundance prizewinner.

One of the best coming-of-age-in-the-punk-scene films, Hari Sama’s drama about the cool and hedonistic underground of Mexico City in 1986 is truly something special.

Marco Bellocchio's praised film tells the story of a member of the Sicilian mafia who was the first to break the law of silence and tell everything to the police.

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon venture to Greece in the fourth instalment of The Trip franchise. Great food, scenery and impressions are all on offer once again.

Uncanny leaps from a valley to a backyard swimming-pool. A story of an android shaped like a human child gnaws both your brain and heart.

A rowdy, stylized punk western about the legend of Ned Kelly, "the Australian Jesse James".

A sensuous plunge into a world that's built on simple pleasures follows a handful of men hunting for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle, deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy.

A surrealist comedy in which a revisionist take on Canadian history meets Monty Python's absurdism, fascistic bigotry and an ejaculating cactus.

Twentysomething Kris, taking care of her partially disabled uncle while running his farm, balances between reaching for her own dreams and helping out her uncle.

Beliefs clash with reality in the Moroccan desert in this insightful dramedy, reminiscent of the work of Aki Kaurismäki.

A delightful portrait of the grandparents of video art, Steina and Woody Vasulka, whose romance took them from behind the Iron Curtain to 1960s New York and its sizzling art scene.

Employing striking contrasts between dark and light, Pedro Costa’s film is like a poem about grief, immigration and bitterness that keeps lingering in the shadows.

An emotional, character-driven drama about an African-American family in the middle of chaotic life changes, directed by one of the top names in American indie, Trey Edward Shults.

David France’s tremendously bleak film about the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya, is both a testament to human kindness and a grim portrait of suffering.

Director Benh Zeitlin reimagines the Peter Pan story through Wendy's eyes, using a style that hasn't grown up since Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Awarded as best documentary at the London Film Festival, the film is a fierce depiction of anti-fascist activism and the birth of the Rock Against Racism movement in late 70s Britain.

Ida moves in with her aunt and cousins after the tragic death of her mother in a car accident. The home is filled with love, but outside of the home, the family leads a violent and criminal life.

The earliest surviving film by an African American director gives a boldly forceful account of the lives of black Americans a hundred years ago.

The curated film and video program With the Current… reflects on a variety of subjects and narratives which reflect on the multiplicity of beings. The screening is curated by artist, curator, and researcher Sepideh Rahaa

In his latest film, South Korean Hong Sang-soo tells delicately cunning stories about the lives of women, keeping men in the background.

Iranian Massoud Bakhshi’s _Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness _skilfully portrays the ancient tradition of pardoning of a murderer by a member of the victim's family, in a morbid modern day TV show setting.

An Estonian theatre hires 22-year-old Alissiya to watch every theatre play in Estonia for a year. The catch: she's never been to theatre. A whirlwind adventure to a world she knows nothing about.

The story of a young and undocumented Filipino girl Rose (stunning Eva Noblezada), who is living in Texas outskirts with her mom. Her story is as empowering and bitter-sweet as the country songs she so beautifully performs.

In this screening no one says shh.. It’s the audience’s turn to speak up!

Cannes awarded Dardenne brothers, always sympathetic to stories of troubled youth, take a controversial turn in this portrait of a radicalized Muslim teen.

Short films about the upsides and downsides of being young.

The eighth ever Sudanese fiction film tells the story of a young man who will die at twenty based on a prophesy. But first, he needs to learn to live.