ELO short films succeed – main prize at Haugesund Film Festival and several student films at Helsinki International Film Festival
Short fiction film Auringonpistos (Mad from the Sun, 2020, Oy Bufo Ab) by Anna Äärelä wins the main prize at the Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund in the Next Nordic Generation competition. Next Nordic Generation Award is given to the best graduation film from the Nordic film schools.
The film is director Anna Äärelä's, producer Pilvi Kuusraisen and sound designer Jani Nikanderin MA thesis films to Aalto University, ELO Film School Finland.
About the film: "A middle-aged woman wakes up one morning only to find a bloody message from her teenage years taped to her window. Does first love ever die?"
Congratulations to all of the film crew!
Credits:
DIRECTOR: Anna Äärelä
SCRIPT: Anna Äärelä
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Max Smeds
SOUND: Jani Nikander
SET DESIGN: Ansku Heiskanen
COSTUME DESIGN: Elina Äärelä
EDITING: Inka Lahti
MUSIC: Sonja Pennanen, Mikko Pennanen
CAST: Julia Von Lerber, Amos Brotherus, Saara Kotkaniemi
PRODUCER: Pilvi Kuusrainen
Production Company: Oy Bufo Ab, Pilvi Kuusrainen
The film can be seen in September at Helsinki International Film Festival, where it competes in the national competition, R&A Shorts, eleven other short films by ELO students.
The films are Leskimies ja elokuvakamera (dir. Sameli Muurimäki), Hei hei Tornio (dir. Emilia Hernesniemi), Kokko (dir. Inga Pohjolainen), Varjoja radalla (dir. Elias Kahla), Haikara (dir. Siiri Halko), Hiljaisuus (dir. Saara Hakkarainen), Röökitauko (dir. Lotta Taarasti), Silmät tummat kuin yö (dir. Kai Rintamaa), Manian lapset (dir. Anton Baer), Kaikki äitini puhelut (dir. Iiti Yli-Harja) as well as No perkele (dir.Saara Hakkarainen), which was featured in the first ever miniature film festival on Instagram in Spring 2021. Watch No perkele on @aaltoarts IGTV.
Read more about the short films and Helsinki International Film Festival.
Read more news
The Business Leader of the Year 2026 is Annikka Hurme, CEO of Valio
In addition, Annika Blomqvist was awarded for promoting entrepreneurship and Sanni Mustonen for her excellent master’s thesis.
Student exchange in Europe? Unite! can take you there
Aalto is a member of Unite!, a European university alliance that gives students the opportunity to internationalise their degrees both online and in-person. Join the webinar to find out more.
Opinion: Finnish language learning should be integrated into degree programs
In this opinion piece, Rebekka Nylund, an expert at the University of Helsinki, and Elisa Räsänen, a university lecturer at Aalto University, reflect on what they have learned from the EU-co-funded Language-supported Knowledge Pathways project and offer suggestions on how and why learning Finnish could be integrated into the structures of higher education degree programs.