Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä, Finland

Location: Sodankylä, Finland

NOTE: The Festival takes place in Finnish Lapland every June, volunteers applications open in March and we start processing them in April.

The Midnight Sun Film Festival was founded in 1986 by Finnish filmmakers, e.g. the Kaurismäki brothers, and the Municipality of Sodankylä. The village of Sodankylä is located in the heart of Finnish Lapland, some 120 kilometers above the Arctic Circle, where the sun doesn’t set at all in the summertime. The nature of Lapland and the nightless night provide the Midnight Sun Film Festival a setting no other festival can compete!

The atmosphere of the Midnight Sun Film Festival is one of the most unique in the whole world: the most fascinating film directors around the world, up-and-coming talents, the international audience and the inhabitants of Sodankylä meet under the midnight sun in the relaxed and informal “spirit of Sodankylä”. Without any formal restraints, the festival is best characterised by its pure love for cinema.

Films are shown in four venues for 24 hours a day, and the actual time is easily forgotten as the sun shines as brightly at 4 AM as it does at 4 PM.

The festival programme is an enticing combination of old and new. Timeless masterpieces of veteran filmmakers will be presented side by side with the most engrossing contemporary films. In the master class screenings leading film critics will provide their insight to cinema’s finest classics, and music films are given a new spin in the karaoke screenings. To top it all, the undisputed highlights of the festival are the glorious silent film concerts.

The programme also includes new Finnish productions, films for children and premiere screenings; altogether about 100 feature films presented in over 120 screenings. To crown the cinematic celebration, every since its origin festival has hold morning discussions with the main guests. Who wouldn’t be interested in hearing which films the legendary directors would take with them to a desert island.

WORKING ARRANGEMENT

For the first-timers:
Our aim is to provide a high-quality, spontaneous and, most importantly, pleasant and rewarding festival. Occasionally, working with us requires a 110% performance mentally as well as physically. Also, it is not possible to place everyone in their most preferred tasks – so MSFF holds the right to place volunteers in different tasks according to the festival’s need.

The festival will provide food and accommodation for all the voluntary workers, as well as the festival catalogue and T-shirt. Furthermore, there is the possibility to see films for free during your free time. Volunteers with alcohol proficiency/hygiene proficiency/first aid certificates, security steward licences, or experience working in kitchens/cafes/restaurants/bars are most likely to be selected.

The selection process:
We are recruiting continually, but the earlier you apply, the better are your chances to get the tasks you prefer. When you receive the letter of acceptance, please make sure to answer as soon as possible and secure your place as a MSFF volunteer! We need ca. 300 volunteers yearly to work on the festival in different tasks.

LIVING ARRANGEMENT

The festival will provide food and accommodation for all the voluntary workers

WEBSITE

https://msfilmfestival.fi/en/volunteers/