Finnish film is being showcased across the Benelux this autumn, featuring a diverse lineup of productions and co-productions.
Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam – AFFR, Rotterdam
7–11.10.2026
Swimming Hall
Toni Kristian Tikkanen, Anni Suikkanen | 2025 | Finland | 15 min
In this poetic documentary, the municipal swimming hall of Imatra, Finland, is a monument to everyday life. Designed in 1966 by architect Einari Teräsvirta, the modernist pool has long served as a place of exercise and community building. Ahead of a major transformation, its regular visitors reflect on their lasting relationship with this piece of public architecture. As they recall the changing light reflections on the water, the rhythm of the vaulted ceiling and the building’s relationship to the surrounding landscape, we are reminded of the power of public architecture to create rituals that span generations.
The Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam – AFFR – is the world’s leading film festival dedicated to film, architecture and the city. The festival takes place at LantarenVenster, Theater Rotterdam and Nieuwe Instituut from 7 to 11 October 2026.
ciné-East – Central and Eastern European Film Festival, Luxembourg
9–25.10.2026
Silver
Natalia Koniarz | Poland, Norway, Finland | 79 min
Silver takes us to the Cerro Rico mine in Potosí, Bolivia, where silver extraction has been marked by human suffering for centuries. Spare in its use of words and consistent in its form, the film combines documentary observation with the poetic power of the image. Peering deep into the mountain, it simultaneously reveals the contemporary face of colonialism and the human cost of the raw materials without which it is difficult to imagine our everyday lives.
CinEast (ciné-East) − Central and Eastern European Film Festival in Luxembourg has been held annually in October since 2008, with 11,500 festival-goers attending the 2025 edition. The festival presents 65 features and 50 short films by directors from 21 CEE countries* over 17 days.
10.10.2026, 18:30 at Ciné Utopia (followed by extended Q&A with the director, online)
Subtitles: EN
Festival des Libertés, Brussels
8–17.10.2026
The Secret Reading Club of Kabul
Shakiba Adil, Elina Hirvonen | Finland, Norway | 2026 | 95 min
Under Taliban rule, a group of young Afghan women secretly organise a reading circle in Kabul. Inspired by Anne Frank, they write, read and film their daily lives despite the risk of repression. Through their own images, the film shows how literature can become a space for resistance, transmission and hope.
MEP Maria Ohisalo is also hosted Afghanistan at a Crossroads, a panel discussion and screening of The Secret Reading Club of Kabul at the European Parliament on the 29th of September, with the film directors and Afghan human rights defender, journalist and director of the Conflict Analysis Network Horia Mosadiq.
17.10.2026, 16:00 at Salle Jacques Huisman, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
Subtitles: FR, EN
Each year, the Festival des Libertés brings together artistic and critical voices to inspire, connect, and spark action. The festival includes international documentary film competitions, live concerts, performances, public debates, and exhibitions.
Pink Screens, Brussels Queer Film Festival, Brussels
28.10–7.11.2026
The World Stood Still (Maailma odotti paikoillaan)
Elise Celestia | Finland | 2025 | 15 min
Young trans woman Myrsky searches for her place in the world and dreams of running away, until the love of her friends makes her rethink the meaning of home.
31.10.2026, 16:00 at Cinema Galleries
Subtitles: FR, EN
Pink Screens is celebrating its 25th edition. Almost a quarter of a century of showing queer films, shaking things up on screen, stirring up desires, strong emotions, and ideas. For this anniversary edition, yellow and fuchsia are once again taking over the cinemas and cultural venues in the centre of Brussels. The programme includes films, discussions, readings, performances, meet-and-greets, parties, and a few surprises. For its 25th edition, Pink Screens also presents two exhibitions in dialogue with one another: Radical Pillow Talk and Queer Resistance.
Noordelijk Film Festival, Leeuwarden, Friesland
4–8.11.2026
This year the festival presents several Finnish productions and co-productions:
Árru
Elle Sofe Sara | Norway, Sápmi, Sweden, Finland | 2026 | 95 min
Days of Wonder (Päivien Lumo)
Karin Pennanen | Finland | 2025 | 87 min
Earth Song (Maan laulu)
Erol Mintaș | Finland, Germany | 2026 | 118 min
Father’s Day (Isänpäivä)
Aleksi Salmenperä | Finland | 2026 | 99 min
Fjord
Cristian Mungiu | Romania, France, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden | 2026 | 146 min
In Cod We Trust
Guro Saniola Berk | Norway, Finland | 2026 | 84 min
The Beauty of Errors (Kappale kauneinta Suomea)
Jukka Kärkkäinen | Finland | 2026 | 94 min
The Kidnapping of a President (Presidentin kyyditys)
Samuli Valkama | Finland | 2026 | 84 min
The Noordelijk Film Festival is a five-day film festival in Leeuwarden that takes place every year in November. The festival distinguishes itself by focusing on film from across Northern Europe, from Iceland to Ireland and the United Kingdom to Scandinavia and the Baltic states. In addition to feature films, documentaries, and arthouse films from this large northern region, the festival also screens promising films from its own region.
Brussels Art Film Festival – BAFF, Brussels
10–15.11.2026
Days of Wonder
Karin Pennanen | Finland | 2025 | 87min
A collage-like portrait of her uncle Markku, a painter, musician, composer and performer: an artist full of secrets. In 1970s Finland, Karin Pennanen grows up fascinated by her larger-than-life uncle. Years later, she discovers the vast body of work he left behind in an isolated house in the woods: drawings, collages, sound recordings and videos. Through this archive, Karin brings Markku back to life and reconnects with the world of her childhood. Days of Wonder becomes an intimate dialogue between generations, memory and creation.
10.11.2026, 19:00 at Cinema Palace, Brussels (followed by a DJ set by Rokia Bamba at the Palace bar, free entry).
Subtitles: FR, NL
For it’s 25th edition, Brussels Art Film Festival – BAFF presents 13 films in competition, 15 films from around the world, special screenings, and a focus on the guest country, Lebanon, in collaboration with CINEMAMED and the BAFF – Beirut Art Film Festival. Pennanen’s Days of Wonder has been selected as the festival’s opening film.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam – IDFA , Amsterdam
12–22.11.2026
PICNIC – In Light Invisible to the Human Eye
Jan Ijäs | Finland | 2026 | 26 min
The Bus of Broken Hearts (Brytbussen)
Björn Carlberg, Johan Palmgren | Sweden, Finland | 2026 | 34 min
The 3 Rooms of Melancholia (Melancholian 3 huonetta)
Pirjo Honkasalo | Finland, Denmark, Germany, Sweden | 2004 | 106 min
IDFA is a leading international documentary institute that provides a space for exchange, collaboration, and inspiration—bringing together filmmakers, artists, audiences, and professionals from around the world. Its broad scope includes a public festival of films and new media, funding initiatives, markets, talent development, and education programs—alongside a year-round documentary hub in Amsterdam’s Vondelpark.
Cover image: The Secret Reading Club of Kabul, film still of the protagonist Dua in Kabul. Yellow FIlm & TV.