Curated by the festival’s Artistic Director Joel Karppanen, the programme offers music videos, films, live performances and exhibitions for culture enthusiasts, as well as networking opportunities for industry professionals.
Oulu Music Video Festival (OMVF) takes place for the 33rd time in Oulu from 27–30 August 2026. This year’s theme, Hauntopolis, runs throughout the programme, with clubs, screenings and films weaving together cultural layers of city environments and the ghostly traces of futures never realised.
OMVF has organised the Finnish music video competition since 1994. This year, as part of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture year, the competition expands for the first time to include a European Music Video Competition. The best music videos from Finland and Europe will be awarded at the Pumpeligaala awards ceremony, held at RioLive on Saturday, 29 August 2026. Shrouded in mystery, the gala will feature unique audiovisual surprises as international and Finnish performers take the audience on a journey from 1930s Europe to Icelandic soundscapes and Tanzanian dance floors.
The opening screening of the 2026 festival will feature a live performance of Derek Jarman’s experimental film landmark Blue (1993) by Simon Fisher Turner and Niko Hallikainen. Local underground history will be explored in a screening of videos from the Bad Vugum record label, while Anna Eriksson’s masterclass will offer an in-depth look at Eriksson’s creative process, presented by the artist herself. International festival guests include American filmmaker Ben Russell, a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, whose films will feature prominently in the festival programme.
Another highlight is City Symphony 2.0, a programme exploring the rhythm, memory and transformation of the city through film, sound and live performance. The screening will feature international classics alongside the world premiere of Radiaali näkemys by Helmi Kajaste, Käärmeniemi and Mika Taanila, combining spoken word, 16 mm film and expanded cinema performance. Several other festival screenings will also feature videos projected from physical film prints.
The festival programme also includes a contemporary art exhibition at Valvegalleria, as well as nightly afterparties featuring Finnish and international performers.
The full festival programme is available on the Oulu Music Video Festival website at omvf.net.
