For more than ten years now, outdoor films have been an established part of Helsinki's film offering. Outdoor film screenings have also been requested in many of the OmaStadi proposals. OmaStadi is the City of Helsinki’s way of realising participatory budgeting.
For three evenings in September, the Kino Caisa goes Arabia event will bring films to Arabianmäki Park, at the foot of Anu Kiiskinen's environmental art piece Nocturnal. The event was born out of the project proposal ‘Outdoor events’ in the third round of the OmaStadi project. The event is produced by the Cultural Centre Caisa. The films to be screened are Alli Haapasalo's Tytöt tytöt tytöt, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light.
Music and movies, the perfect match
The City of Helsinki's partner in the outdoor cinema productions is Pop Up Kino Helsinki. Its executive director, Janne Hulkkonen, says that this summer has been exceptional for outdoor films.
- We have been producing outdoor films since 2013. We started from Kivinokka beach, and since then films have been screened at locations from Malmi Cemetery to Raseborg Castle. An exceptional number of screenings are offered in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area this summer, and the main season of the year is right now, says Janne Hulkkonen.
The atmosphere at the outdoor film screenings is calm and focused. Finns are not afraid of changeable weather and know how to prepare for it.
- Koffarin Kinofest and the Malmi Summer of Events beautifully combined music and films into a whole package, and Sinebrychoff Park provided an excellent setting for Kinofest. Cooperation with the City has also gone very well. We are already looking forward to Kino Caisa goes Arabia, says Hulkkonen.
Koffarin Kinofest attracted audience and praise
The three-day Koffarin Kinofest, born from an OmaStadi proposal, attracted 7,500 visitors to Sinebrychoff Park in August.
- The person who submitted this OmaStadi proposal knew exactly what the park needed! Film and music are a perfect match, especially for Sinebrychoff Park, says Sirpa Hynninen, the senior producer of the festival at the Savoy Theatre.
- Cooperation with the partners went smoothly and with great team spirit. Another important aspect was the cooperation with local residents and operators, Hynninen continues.
Koffarin Kinofest featured a cultural film screening every evening, children's programme during the day, and soul, jazz and blues concerts in the early evening.
- The festival gave us some wonderful encounters with the audience. We received plenty of positive feedback and the question of whether the event would be continued often came up in the discussions, says Veronika Pesonen, the festival's event producer.
OmaStadi is the City of Helsinki’s way of providing participatory budgeting services. During the three OmaStadi rounds, Helsinki residents have proposed and voted on how the City will spend a total of €22 million. The 164 projects completed so far have made Helsinki a better and more welcoming place for its residents.
The fourth round of OmaStadi will start in autumn 2025. During this round, Helsinki residents will make proposals and vote on the spending of €10 million. Visit omastadi.hel.fi to submit proposals and vote on them.
