Vaasa Wildlife Festival presents the world’s best nature films from 25 to 29 September 2024

Over five days, audiences will be treated to 118 films from 46 different countries. All festival screenings are free of charge and are held  at Culture House Fanny, the Ostrobothnian Museum Terranova, or the Vaasa City Library’s Draama Room.

A versatile film competition with international guests

This year, the film competition attracted 720 entries from 89 countries, from which the jury selected 118 films for the final competition. The selected films provide a global perspective on biodiversity, environmental protection and the human rights struggles of indigenous peoples.

The festival will place particular focus on documentaries highlighting the challenges faced by indigenous peoples in the South American rainforests, such as Michael Christoffersen’s Law of the Jungle and Matthieu Lietaert’s The Illusion of Abundance, which explore human rights violations and environmental exploitation.

Both films will be screened at Culture House Fanny on Friday, 27 September at 20, and will be accompanied by video messages from the filmmakers.

Film screenings on various themes

The films screened at the festival are grouped into several themes, including Nordic and Finnish nature films, underwater documentaries, films related to sustainability and climate change, as well as animation and video art. The festival will also feature international groups, including a nine-member school film group from Malaysia, who will present their film Love Grandpa in the Draama Room of the Vaasa Main Library on Thursday, 26 September at 10.30.

-The group is led by the Chief Education Officer of Sabah State, located in the north of Borneo, and we will visit Suvilahti School to observe a day at a Finnish school,” says Ilias Missyris, the festival’s producer.

The festival will also feature Johnny Lam, a student director from Kent State University in Northern Ohio, USA. Lam’s film American Bison will be screened in the Draama Room on Wednesday, 25 September at 17. Greek director Theodore Thermos and a group of three students from Panteion University in Athens will present their film Environment without Nature on in the Draama Room at the City Main Library on Friday, 27 September at 11.30.

Well-known filmmakers

The festival programme also includes a series of feature films, including

• Rap & Reindeer by Finnish filmmaker Petteri Saario on Thursday 26 September at 16.30 in the Draama Room and
• A Call from Wild by Norwegian filmmaker Asgeir Hegelstad on Saturday 28 September at 15.30 in the Draama Room

This year, 13 feature films will be screened, including the American documentary Rhino Man, which features introductory remarks by William, Prince of Wales. Among the filmmakers are the German Uwe Müller with his film Knock, Knock – The Woodpecker’s World and Mio Brehm with Scandinavia – Into the Darkness.

• “Rhino Man” on Wednesday 25 September at 15.30 in the Ostrobothnian Museum Terranova.
• “Knock, Knock – The Woodpecker’s World” on Friday 27 September at 15 in the Draama Room
• “Scandinavia – Into the Darkness” on Friday 27 September at 13.10 in the Draama Room.

In addition,

• Clément Couturier from France will also present his film The Forest Archipelago on Saturday 28 September at 14 in the Draama Room, and
• Mahmoud Adawi from Egypt will present his children’s animation project Mermaid and People on Thursday  26 September at 11.57 in the Draama Room.

Per Hansson from Umeå, Sweden, who previously introduced his new film project at Baltic Sea Day in Vaasa, will also be attending the Nature Film Festival. Hansson’s visit is sponsored by Film i Västerbotten. The international jury will be represented by Michael van Bürk, Press Officer of the Green Screen Festival, Sari Siltavuori, Artistic Director of the Kirjakantti festival in Kuopio, and award-winning nature filmmakers Cornelia Volk and Oliver Goetzl.

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony

The winners of the film competition will be announced at an awards ceremony at Culture House Fanny on Saturday, 28 September. The awards are created by artist Paula Blåfield.

The winning films will be screened at Vaasa City Library and Culture House Fanny on Sunday, 29 September. The festival will also include other events such as a photography exhibition by Rasmus Söderholm, a poetry reading by Mirjam Silvén from Vaasa and a workshop for children led by artist Nousin Jafarz.

For more information on the festival programme and screenings, please visit wildlife.vaasa.fi.