Melancholic karaoke documentary, reopened Kiasma and seal webcast

“The most relaxing business event in the world.” That is the tagline of The World Sauna Forum organised in Finland for the fifth time in June 2022. The event promises networking with the most important companies and innovators in the sauna business and a chance to experience the authentic Finnish sauna. The event website has the details. (Photo: Emilia Hoisko Photography / Visit Finland)

Mika Myllahti’s debut feature, The Woodcutter Story, has been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. The film, which focuses on a woodcutter in an idyllic small Finnish town and the tragic events surrounding him, will be screened at the sidebar event Critics’ Week.  According to the Finnish Film Foundation, the film gained attention at the same event already in 2019, when its script received the Next Step Award. (Photo: Tero Ahonen / Elokuvayhtiö Aamu)

Finnish mobile game developers celebrate record download numbers. Rovio, the company behind Angry Birds, has passed five billion downloads across its mobile games portfolio, writes PocketGamer. At the same time, Helsinki-based game studio Lightneer has reason to cheer as its three mobile titles have reached 100 million downloads in total. (Photo: Rovio)

Ville Valo is back. The HIM singer talked with Metal Hammer about his new VV project, his solo debut album and if there is any chance of an HIM reunion. “VV is me building a bridge between HIM and the future,” Valo said in the interview. (Photo: Facebook / Heartgram)

Baltic ringed seals star in WWF Finland’s new live stream. In addition to providing memorable wildlife experiences, the webcast aims to raise awareness of the endangered species and help researchers to catch the seals on camera. There are only an estimated 200–300 ringed seals left in the Finnish archipelago area of the Baltic Sea. Yle has the story. (Photo: Estormiz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Moominvalley gets awarded in the US. The animated TV series won the Audience Award for episodic programmes at New York International Children’s Film Festival, the largest film festival for young audiences in North America. Read more on the awards on the festival’s website. (Photo: Gutsy Animations)

The Moomin Language School encourages children aged 3 to 10 to start using a new language. The programme has turned its focus to helping Ukrainian children feel at home in Finland by offering them a chance to study Finnish with its digital service. (Photo: Moomin Language School)

A sustainable concept for wood-based textile fibres took the 2022 Marcus Wallenberg Prize. Behind the concept are professor Ilkka Kilpeläinen from the University of Helsinki and professor Herbert Sixta from Aalto University, who have developed and used novel ionic liquids to process wood biomass into high-performance textile fibres. The prize will be presented to the two professors by His Majesty the King of Sweden. (Photo: Aalto yliopisto/Mikko Raskinen)

Karaoke Paradise receives praise on Variety. The entertainment trade magazine describes the documentary by Einari Paakkanen as a “tender ode” to karaoke and commends it for finding “a touching sense of longing and loss in the oft-mocked pastime”. (Photo: Eda Kabaca Oglu Paakkanen /napafilms)

Kiasma, Helsinki’s museum of contemporary art, has reopened its doors. The newly renovated museum’s first exhibition, ARS22 – Living Encounters, explores global issues and fills all five floors of the building. It also includes a space dedicated to Middle Eastern art, writes Arab News. (Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Pirje Mykkänen)