Pilvi Takala‘s Feeling Defensive (Part 1) (featured image), Heidi Piiroinen‘s I am a River and Matti Harju‘s Nox will be screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), held from January 29–February 8, 2026 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. I am a River is selected for the Tiger Short Competition, Feeling Defensive (Part 1) will be featured in the Short and Mid-length Programme, and Nox is screened in the Harbour Programme.
Feeling Defensive (2025) emerged from Takala’s experience attending the National Defence Course – an invite-only training organised by the Finnish military to rally support for national defence and foster preparedness for crises and war. Based on a conversation with a fellow course participant, political scientist Johanna Vuorelma, the work observes how the course is designed to influence not only its participants but also the society beyond its immediate scope.
Screenings
Sunday 1 February 2026 | 22.00 – 23.42 Pathé 6
Tuesday 3 February 2026 | 16.45 – 18.27 KINO 4
I am a River is an experimental short that reveals the hidden narratives carried by water. The film draws inspiration from Pablo Neruda’s Book of Questions, weaving poetic inquiry with visual abstraction through the mordançage technique. The film reflects on the reciprocity between human perception and the natural world. Using the transformative and decaying aesthetics of mordançage, the film evokes the fluid, fragile, and ever-changing essence of rivers. As layers peel and images distort, it suggests that rivers are not silent – they are living entities with memory, culture, and voice. Their bodies, like ours, hold complexity: catchments, deltas, and wetlands as organs, and flowing currents as veins. Both vulnerable and vital, rivers mirror our own existence. The river flows through us, and we through it. We are rivers.
The film is produced by PALO.
Screenings
Friday 30 January 2026 | 21.30 – 23.10 Pathé 3
Saturday 31 January 2026 | 14.00 – 15.40 Pathé 6
Monday 2 February 2026 | 09.30 – 10.42 Lantaren Venster 5
Thursday 5 February 2026 | 19.30 – 20.42 Cinerama 5
In Matti Harju’s Nox, a sudden visit from an inhalant-addicted old acquaintance pulls a quiet quarry worker into a night of hallucinations and misidentifications. As morning arrives with a sharp, penetrating light, the story begins again: three men set out to find the dealer whose impure drugs indirectly led to their brother’s and cousin’s death. Their search moves toward an inevitable confrontation—one that exposes how identity can splinter under the weight of darkness.
The film is Harju’s second fiction feature film and it is produced by Testifilmi.
Screenings
Tuesday 3 February 2026 | 18.30 – 19.59 Lantaren Venster 5
Thursday 5 February 2026 | 09.15 – 10.44 Pathé 2
Friday 6 February 2026 | 15.45 – 16.54 Cinerama 5
International Film Festival Rotterdam
January 29–February 8, 2026
Rotterdam, Netherlands
More information: IFFR
AV-arkki has promoted and distributed Finnish media art since 1989. AV-arkki’s promotional efforts have made the artists’ participation in this event possible. If you want to hear the latest news from our distribution, subscribe to our newsletter!