The films selected for the 2026 Tampere Film Festival’s National Competition, International Competition, and the Generation XYZ Competition dedicated to genre films have been confirmed. A record-breaking total of 8127 films were submitted across the competition categories, from which 121 films from 49 countries were selected. All selected films will be screened at the festival from 4–8 March and will also be available online on the Filmchief platform.
The summary of all selected films, juries, rules, and awards is available here:
Tampere Film Festival: Competitions 2026
National Competition
A total of 340 films were submitted to the National Competition, of which 41 were selected. The competition features works by both new filmmakers and directors who have previously enjoyed success at the festival. According to the selection committee, the overall lineup is highly diverse:
– This year we received a wide variety of films, and notably a commendable number of longer works. The final selection represents a pleasing range of genres, and the gender balance of the filmmakers is close to 50/50, says Kati-Anne Leino of the National Competition selection committee.
The over-30-minute category includes, for example, the recent Jussi Award nominee (Best Cinematography, Jarkko T. Laine) Lessons in Fire (Palava maa, Finland, 2025), directed by John Webster, winner of the Risto Jarva Award in 1999. Competing in both the long and short film categories with their documentary premieres The Beauty of Errors (Finland, 2026) and The Beauty of Automobiles (Finland, 2026) is Jukka Kärkkäinen, winner of the Main Prize in the over-30-minute category in 2018 (shared with J-P Passi).
The under-30-minute category includes, among others, the latest documentary by Selma Vilhunen, A Gate to Paradise (Portti Paratiisiin, Finland, 2025). Vilhunen has previously won the Main Prize in the over-30-minute category in 2008 and 2017, the Risto Jarva Award in 2017, and the Main Prize in the under-30-minute category in 2003. The competition also features, for example, renowned director Risto-Pekka Blom’s experimental documentary Too Blue Sky (Liian sininen taivas, Finland, 2026), as well as the fiction short Ikaros (Finland, 2025) by Anna Eriksson, known for her feature-length films.
International Competition
A total of 7125 films were submitted to the festival’s largest competition category, the International Competition. From these, 60 films from 44 countries were selected for screening. The competition is highly regarded internationally, and films awarded in the series are also eligible for Oscar® and BAFTA consideration.
– With more films submitted than ever before, it became even more important for us to seek out stories that stand out and stay with the viewer. The polarised global political situation and the growing gap between the privileged and the underprivileged are certainly reflected in the films, but it was equally important for us to include works that offer joy, light, and hope, comments Liina Härkönen of the International Competition selection committee.
The International Competition of Tampere Film Festival 2026 includes, among others, L’mina (France, Italy, Morocco, Qatar, 2025) by Randa Maroufi, winner of the Grand Prix in 2020, and Air Horse One (Switzerland, Belgium, 2025) by Lasse Linder, who won the Best Documentary award in the same year. Finnish films selected for the International Competition include The Beauty of Automobiles (Finland, 2026) by Jukka Kärkkäinen, also featured in the National Competition, as well as In My Hand (Norway, Sweden, Finland, 2025) by Marja Helander and Liselotte Wajstedt.
Generation XYZ Competition
An impressive 662 films were submitted to the Generation XYZ Competition, from which 20 films from 16 countries were selected. Established in 2021, the Generation XYZ Competition focuses on thriller, sci-fi, horror, action, and fantasy films.
– It’s wonderful to see the number of submissions to the genre competition grow year by year. It feels like people are only now beginning to discover that such a competition exists at the festival. We’re very pleased with the wide geographical spread of the selected films and the diversity of the lineup – after all, genre cinema doesn’t only mean horror, gore, and guts. Unfortunately, there were still too few sci-fi and fantasy films among the submissions, and we would very much like to see more of those in the future, says Iida Sahlman of the Generation XYZ selection committee.
Awards Ceremony Returns to the Comedy Theatre Palace
The Tampere Film Festival awards for the best films in the competition categories, as well as the Audience Award winners, will once again be presented on Saturday, 7 March, at the atmospheric Comedy Theatre Palace in central Tampere. The event will also include the Verso Sustainability Award, which promotes a more sustainable film industry and responsible practices, as well as the Sylvi Scriptwriting Awards presented by the Finnish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild.
The 56th film festival in Tampere 4–8 March 2026
The 56th Tampere Film Festival will take place from 4–8 March, 2026. The full festival programme will be published and single tickets will go on sale on 10 February. Serial Cards are already available in the festival’s online shop.
Read more: www.tamperefilmfestival.fi
Kuva: Érica Dahlström-Dezonne, Tampereen elokuvajuhlat 2025
