Film.culture360 is attending the 44th Tampere International Short Film Festival in Finland which takes over the city from 05 March until Sunday 9th of March 2014. During five days, more than 100 screenings of short films, silent films and documentary films from all around the world are shown in the city's four primary cinemas.

The opening ceremony featured a poignant speech from festival director Jukka-Pekka Laakso, who emphasised that ethics are as important to the festival as aesthetics, particularly in the light of recent upheavals in the political landscape. The ceremony featured short speeches from Laakso and the jury members before screening six short films, from Finland, the UK and Germany. The main programme features films from throughout Europe and Asia while the side programmes also contain a wide selection of films crossing the boundaries between fine arts and cinema.

The festival also holds a series of talks and masterclasses for filmmakers looking to distribute their short film into the international market - film.culture360 will be taking part in these discussions and will report back with our findings.

Alongside this, the opening evening saw the launch of experimental pieces by three artists: Pekka Sassi, Pilvi Takala and Erkka Nissinen in honour of the Distribution Centre for Finnish Media Art, AV-arkki which turns 25 this year. The FestArt exhibition in Kunsthalle TR1 exhibits Salla Tykkä’s three-piece video installation, which is a cinematic study on memory and power structures. The individual works each describe a subject that the artist used to consider beautiful and perfect in her youth.

The films by German director Jochen Kuhn will be seen in three retrospective screenings. His works have often been referred to as living paintings: the director paints his visions on canvas, the pictures overlapping each other and changing continuously.

The festival continues apace throughout the week, check back here for further updates.