Oulu Music Video Festival adds Anna Eriksson masterclass, feature films and archival screenings — Tanzanian duo Sisso & Maiko to ignite the afterparty
Oulu Music Video Festival welcomes Anna Eriksson as this year’s domestic director guest.
Once a schlager singer, Eriksson has spent the last decade establishing herself as one of the most distinctive voices in Finnish cinema, with challenging, boundary-pushing work screened at prestigious festivals such as Venice and Locarno. In her masterclass, Erikssond discusses her career and creative process as a filmmaker, and showcases music videos she has directed — including works made for Stam1na and for herself.
Two brand-new feature films will also receive their Finnish premieres at the festival.
Barrio Triste (2025) is veteran music video director Stillz’s delirious love letter to 1980s Colombia. Blending found footage with magical realism, the film is scored by Arca’s haunting soundtrack. Produced by Harmony Korine, it echoes elements of Baby Invasion, which screened at OMVF last year.
Rescued from the archives and painstakingly restored, Nova ’78 (2025) is built from previously unseen 16mm footage shot by Howard Brookner and Tom DiCillo at the legendary Nova Convention. The event honouring William S. Burroughs brought together spoken word, performance art and experimental music, with appearances from Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass and John Cage.
Spotlight on Africa
Oulu Music Video Festival is launching a new collaboration with Uganda’s Nyege Nyege label and festival, which has grown into Africa’s leading platform for experimental music.
Tanzanian production duo Sisso & Maiko are heading to Oulu, bringing singeli — a breathlessly fast-paced strain of electronic dance music rooted in the ngoma and taarab traditions. In their distinctive live performances, Maiko plays wild, improvised keyboard melodies while Sisso reshapes the sound in real time using DJ techniques. The duo perform regularly at clubs and festivals across Africa and Europe, and their Oulu appearance marks their first ever show in Finland, with support from Oulu’s own Lara Kaaos.
OMVF will also present a music video screening curated by Nyege Nyege, taking audiences straight to the streets of Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa and Durban.
Deepening the African focus is Mohammed Shebl’s cult classic Anyab (1981) — a riotous fusion of camp, horror and disco musical, often described as Egypt’s answer to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Underground scenes, archives and ghosts
Veli Kauppinen’s traditional showcase Velisen sunnuntai returns to celebrate its 15th year, alongside Stunning Incidents: Bad Vugum’s music videos from the 1990s, curated by Ida Karoskoski and Tuomas Vartiainen. Spanning everything from Keuhkot to Radiopuhelimet, this programme gathers gems from Finland’s unruly 1990s underground and offers a glimpse into the more warped corners of homegrown rock.
A rare treat awaits in Anton Nikkilä and Mika Taanila’s The Double (1993), a compilation of Russian industrial music videos from the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Viewed from today’s vantage point, its interviews with underground musicians — and videos that turn the arms industry into carnival spectacle — feel like eerie premonitions of Russia’s current descent into decay and the rise of a fascist police state.
This hauntological thread continues through the festival’s art exhibition, which turns its gaze to the microbes of suburban landfills, monuments of a bygone world, and the phantom limbs left behind by Google Street View’s algorithmic glitches. Featured artists include Ieva Balode, Saara Ekström, Toivo Heinimäki & Tommi Pasanen, Utu-Tuuli Jussila, Mikko Paakkonen and Hanna Råst.
Oulu Music Video Festival runs from 27–30 August. The selected films for the domestic and European music video competitions, along with the full festival schedule, will be announced next week.
