Dear guests of the Saimaa Film Festival Opening Ceremony,

Welcome to one of Finland’s most distinctive film festivals!

It is my honour, as the Artistic Director of the Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä, to deliver this opening greeting to you remotely. The festival’s patron, Aki Kaurismäki, by far Finland’s most internationally renowned filmmaker, is unfortunately unable to join you on this occasion.

There is not always much cause for celebration when we consider the state of film culture today. A few years ago in Sodankylä, we published an appeal signed by numerous Finnish film enthusiasts, calling for the establishment of film festivals, film clubs, and similar events throughout the country, with the aim of filling Finland with the joy and spirit of cinematic art.

The list of signatures, gathered quickly and spontaneously during the festival, represented an impressive cross-section of Finland’s leading film enthusiasts, from Aki Kaurismäki to our then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pekka Haavisto.

Encouragingly, in the difficult years following the pandemic, an extraordinary variety of new platforms for cinema have emerged across Finland, from Hanko to Lapland and from Pori to South Karelia. This is also part of a global trend. Countless film festivals are taking place somewhere in the world every single day. There is even one held at Christmas.

At times, however, it is disappointing to see how many film festivals around the world seem to mirror one another in their programming. The same so-called “best films of the year” travel from one country and capital city to another. These are usually feature-length fiction films, often the very same titles that later make their way into the programmes of arthouse cinemas. The Saimaa Film Festival takes cinema beyond Finland’s largest population centres and does so with a refreshingly diverse programme. It gives significant space to short films and documentaries, while presenting an impressively broad range of countries of production. These are films that audiences rarely have the opportunity to encounter in commercial cinemas or, for that matter, on television.

I am confident that the festival’s Artistic Director, Kamran Shahmardan, has done his utmost to safeguard the artistic quality of the programme. I am equally confident that Katri Lätt-Shahmardan and the entire organising team have succeeded in creating an enviable environment in which audiences can experience these films, surrounded by the beauty of Finnish nature. After all, the most important purpose of a film festival extends far beyond what happens on the screen. It lies in the encounters, conversations, and exchange between audiences and filmmakers alike.

The road of art, culture, and education can be a rocky one in Finland today, and at times the journey can be demanding. It requires enthusiasm, perseverance, and occasionally a touch of creative madness. But being film-crazy has its rewards, too. Cinephilia is a rather healthy disease. Through the “seventh art,” we are given unique experiences and something that brings greater meaning and richness to our lives.

Allow me to conclude with a personal experience that I hope may offer some encouragement. Although the Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä is Finland’s most internationally renowned film festival, and perhaps one of the country’s best-known festivals of any kind, its journey has not always been easy, despite decades of persistent work and the support of loyal audiences. There have been challenges both financially and in building an audience.

I am confident that the festival’s Artistic Director, Kamran Shahmardan, has done his utmost to safeguard the artistic quality of the programme. I am equally confident that Katri Lätt-Shahmardan and the entire organising team have succeeded in creating an enviable environment in which audiences can experience these films, surrounded by the beauty of Finnish nature. After all, the most important purpose of a film festival extends far beyond what happens on the screen. It lies in the encounters, conversations, and exchange between audiences and filmmakers alike.

The road of art, culture, and education can be a rocky one in Finland today, and at times the journey can be demanding. It requires enthusiasm, perseverance, and occasionally a touch of creative madness. But being film-crazy has its rewards, too. Cinephilia is a rather healthy disease. Through the “seventh art,” we are given unique experiences and something that brings greater meaning and richness to our lives.

Allow me to conclude with a personal experience that I hope may offer some encouragement. Although the Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä is Finland’s most internationally renowned film festival, and perhaps one of the country’s best-known festivals of any kind, its journey has not always been easy, despite decades of persistent work and the support of loyal audiences. There have been challenges both financially and in building an audience.

Timo Malmi 12.8.2026