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Film Festivals in Sodankyla
Midnight Sun Film Festival
A small municipality in the heart of Finnish Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle on the Kitinen river. It is better known abroad than its size suggests thanks to the Midnight Sun Film Festival, the round-the-clock June cinema event founded by the Kaurismaki brothers, which fills the village with directors and film-lovers under the never-setting Lapland sun.
Run by Sodankyla Film Festival Association, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
The Midnight Sun Film Festival is the most singular film festival in the world, and Sodankyla, a small Lapland village well north of the Arctic Circle, is the whole point. Founded in 1986 by the directors Aki and Mika Kaurismaki with the film historian Peter von Bagh, it screens films non-stop, around the clock, through five June days when the sun never sets, in tents and halls a short walk apart. The programme is a deliberately eclectic mix of silent classics with live music, world cinema, new Finnish films and retrospectives chosen by the guest directors, who appear in famously relaxed morning discussions. There are no red carpets and no market, just films and film-makers in a friendly northern village where the light never fails and the mood is closer to a summer gathering than an industry event. The 41st edition runs 10 to 14 June 2026. For anyone who loves cinema, watching a restored classic at three in the morning in full daylight is unforgettable.
Best months
The festival is held over five days in mid-June, when Sodankyla has 24-hour daylight; the 2026 edition runs 10 to 14 June. Screenings run through the night, so the trick is pacing sleep against the light and the schedule. It is a small event in a small place, so passes, screenings and the limited local accommodation sell and fill early. June in Lapland is mild but mosquito season, so pack repellent along with a layer for cool nights.
Getting there & around
Sodankyla is in central Finnish Lapland, about 130 kilometres north of Rovaniemi and roughly an hour and a half by road. Most festival-goers fly to Rovaniemi and drive or take a bus north, or continue to Kittila; there are shuttle and bus links in festival week. The village and its screening venues are small and walkable. Accommodation is limited and books out for the festival, so many visitors camp or stay in nearby villages, and cabins should be reserved well ahead.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Midnight Sun Film Festival
OrganizerThe Midnight Sun Film Festival is run by the Sodankyla Film Festival Association, founded in 1986 by the directors Aki and Mika Kaurismaki and the film historian Peter von Bagh. Each June it screens films around the clock over five days of Lapland midnight sun in the village of Sodankyla, mixing silent classics with live accompaniment, world cinema, new Finnish work and guest-director retrospectives, and draws around 32,000 visits. The 41st edition runs 10 to 14 June 2026.