Lappeenranta International Film Festival -- Beyond Cinema

LAPPEENRANTA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026 - BEYOND CINEMA
(Formerly known as Joutseno Art Summer International Film Festival)

We warmly invite filmmakers, film lovers, and film scholars from all over the world to our new festival taking place in Lappeenranta, in South-Eastern Finland.

After two years of success, we have curated a thoughtfully designed festival built both on classic screenings of selected films and on an educational premise. Continuing the tradition established in 2024, when a panel of critics and filmmakers analysed a screened film, this year the festival introduces REFLECTIONS – a two-day segment presenting two films followed by moderated *discussions. These sessions provide audiences, filmmakers, and scholars with a shared space for reflection and exchange on the artistic, social, and human dimensions of cinema.

Lappeenranta International Film Festival (LIFF) – Beyond Cinema will be held in the international university city of Lappeenranta (approx. 80,000 inhabitants), on the coast of the vast Lake Saimaa, just a two-hour train trip east from Helsinki, the capital of Finland.

The selected films in three major categories – feature films, documentaries, and short films – will be screened in the modern Finnkino cinemas in the heart of the city.

With its programme, CineNordica Oy, the organiser of Lappeenranta International Film Festival (LIFF) – Beyond Cinema, seeks to open new psychological and social perspectives on the creation of film culture, deepening our understanding of the multilayered realities of cinema as an art form.

All this, along with a selection of modern, experimental, and classic films, will unfold a unique festival atmosphere surrounded by the exotic lakeside nature and the luminous nights of the Nordic summer.

While we cannot make formal commitments, the festival aims—whenever possible—to support selected filmmakers with travel arrangements. We also warmly encourage all nominees to consider attending the opening and closing events, as their presence greatly enriches the festival experience.

*The language of all meetings is English.