OMVF Competition Line-up Revealed
The Oulu Music Video Festival (OMVF) has unveiled the official selections for its 33rd edition, revealing both the screening schedule and the films competing in its national competition and newly launched European music video competition.
The festival's inaugural European Music Video Competition attracted 161 submissions, with just 14 videos selected. The programme spans nine countries and showcases an eclectic mix of established artists and emerging talents. Highlights include Leise rieselt der Schnee by Christian "Flake" Lorenz, best known as the keyboardist of Rammstein; This Arrow Points by Austrian avant-garde filmmaker Siegfried A. Fruhauf; Sinatra by Norwegian rapper Arif Murakami; and Don't Break by Dutch multi-instrumentalist ZEP. Finland is represented by Keijut ja perhoset ("Fairies and Butterflies"), the latest work by Ida-Maria Olva, winner of the 2024 Golden Pumpeli Award.
"Europe is living through a time of war, and that reality echoes throughout this year's selection. The programme moves between reality and fantasy, childhood perspectives and queer joy. Sixteen-millimetre film sits alongside AI experiments, while classical storytelling meets abstraction”, OMVF's artistic director Joel Karppanen says.
The international jury—filmmaker Ben Russell and curators Kaisa Karvinen and Ksenia Kaverina—will award the Europumpeli Grand Prize together with a pair of Genelec 8351B SAM™ studio monitors. The competition programme will also be screened simultaneously at Espoo Ciné.
Lost Cities, New Visions
OMVF's long-running Finnish Music Video Competition received 253 submissions, from which 50 videos have been selected. The line-up features some of Finland's biggest names, including Turisti, Olavi Uusivirta, OLGA, KUUMAA, Stam1na and Mirella, who is pictured.
This year's competition unfolds across five screening programmes inspired by the festival theme Hauntopolis, each named after a legendary lost city. The jury consists of journalist and critic Kalle Kinnunen, producer James Mackay, and producer-curator Ida Karoskoski. Winners will be revealed at the festival's famously unpredictable Pumpeli Gala, which will take audiences from the Europe of the 1930s to Icelandic soundscapes and Tanzanian dance floors.
“A beloved Finnish cultural figure will host the evening, and the stage will also welcome an artist once celebrated by the late cultural theorist Mark Fisher”, Karppanen hints.
The festival's top honour, the Golden Pumpeli Award, includes a €3,001 production grant in the form of a gift voucher donated by Kinos Rentals. Additional awards include the Teen Pumpeli for Best Emerging Director, Postpumpeli for Best Post-Production, Linssipumpeli for Best Cinematography, and the Audience Award.
Post-Digital Futures
This year's professional programme turns its attention to the changing technological landscape of music video production. As generative AI rapidly reshapes creative workflows, analogue film and photochemical processes are experiencing an unexpected resurgence. Rather than treating these developments as opposing forces, OMVF invites audiences to consider what kind of post-digital ecosystem they are creating together.
The public discussion features journalist Kalle Kinnunen alongside artists Ieva Balode and Marc Richter, both of whom also have work in the European competition.
Elsewhere, artist Mika Taanila joins Kiasma curator Saara Karhunen for a conversation at Oulu City Hall. Karhunen's exhibition Earworm – Media Art from Kiasma includes Birdy, Taanila's celebrated music video for Finnish cult band 22-Pistepirkko.
