The long read · Finnish cinema
The Resilience of Finnish Cinema and Its Global Stars
Finnish cinema is famous for few words and deep feeling. Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan, warm-hearted films have won the world over, a new generation is winning prizes at Cannes, and Helsinki has played Moscow and Petrograd for Hollywood. Here is the story, and where to watch in Helsinki.
Updated October 2026
From Lapland legends to Kaurismäki
Finland’s classic cinema drew on its landscapes and literature. Erik Blomberg’s The White Reindeer (1952) turned a Lapland legend into an eerie fairy tale, and Edvin Laine’s The Unknown Soldier (1955), from Väinö Linna’s novel, became one of the best-loved Finnish films of all.
From the 1980s Aki Kaurismäki gave Finnish cinema its own unmistakable voice: deadpan, kind and full of old rock ’n’ roll. With his brother Mika and others he founded the Midnight Sun Film Festival in Lapland in 1986. Today Juho Kuosmanen and Jalmari Helander are taking Finnish film to new audiences.
Must-watch films
To understand Finnish cinema, start with these.
- The White Reindeer (1952): Erik Blomberg’s haunting Lapland legend.
- Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989): Aki Kaurismäki’s road movie with the world’s strangest rock band.
- The Man Without a Past (2002): Kaurismäki’s tale of a man who loses his memory in Helsinki, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes.
- Compartment No. 6 (2021): Juho Kuosmanen’s train journey to the Arctic, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes.
- Fallen Leaves (2023): Kaurismäki’s gentle Helsinki love story, winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes.
The stars
Finland’s actors and film-makers are quietly brilliant.
- Kati Outinen: Kaurismäki’s favourite actress, best actress at Cannes for The Man Without a Past.
- Alma Pöysti: the star of Tove and Fallen Leaves.
- Peter Franzén and Krista Kosonen: two of Finland’s best-known screen actors.
- Renny Harlin: the Finnish-born director of Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger.
Where to watch in Helsinki
In Helsinki, Kino Regina, the National Audiovisual Institute’s cinema inside the Oodi central library, shows Finnish and world classics, and Bio Rex has been showing films in the Lasipalatsi building since 1936; the Amos Rex art museum sits beneath the same square. Every September the Love & Anarchy festival fills the city’s screens.
Our advice: see a Kaurismäki film at Kino Regina or Bio Rex, then visit the Amos Rex museum beneath the Lasipalatsi square.
Hidden on the silver screen: international productions filmed in Finland
For years Helsinki was Hollywood’s favourite stand-in for Russian cities.
- Reds (1981), Helsinki: Warren Beatty filmed on Senate Square and the streets around it, which played Petrograd.
- Gorky Park (1983), Helsinki: the city stood in for Moscow in this thriller with William Hurt.
Finns in Hollywood
Finnish film-makers have made their mark abroad too. Renny Harlin directed Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger in Hollywood, and Jalmari Helander’s Sisu, a wild action film set in Lapland, found audiences around the world.
Questions and answers
Who is Finland’s most famous director?
Aki Kaurismäki, whose films include The Man Without a Past and Fallen Leaves, both prize-winners at Cannes.
What is the Midnight Sun Film Festival?
A film festival held every June in Sodankylä, in Lapland, where films are shown around the clock under the midnight sun.
Join the conversation
Which Finnish film or star do you love most? Share your favourite scenes and the films we should add.
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Sources: the National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI), the Festival de Cannes, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Helsinki’s official tourism site, checked on 6 November 2026. The trailers are from MUBI’s and Sony Pictures Classics’ official channels.