Helmi Donner's The Lightning Rod to premiere in Cannes
The short film is a poetic horror drama about Irina, a young mother on the run from her poisonous relationship, and her grandmother who has her own wounds too. The film is Donner’s MA film for ELO Film School Finland at Aalto University.
“It feels really great that a Finnish student film is being recognised at a high international level,” Helmi Donner says. “But here at home, the cuts and misery being inflicted on film art and other culture are infuriating in their short-sightedness.”
Previous Finnish films in La Cinef (formerlyCinéfondation) are To Return Until (2010) by Salla Sorri and The Painting Sellers (2015) by Juho Kuosmanen. The Painting Sellers won the main Cinéfondation Award.
The Lightning Rod is produced by Sandra Enkvist and Hadi Nikzad, and it stars Oksana Lommi, Janina Berman and Samuel Kujala.
A total of 2,700 films were entered for La Cinef, out of which only 16 were selected to the section. Cannes Film Festival takes place May 13–24, 2025.
Read more news
Chem Awards 2025 recipients announced
The School of Chemical Engineering recognises outstanding individuals and teams for their exceptional contributions over the year
Call for Applications: Aalto Creatives Pre-incubator Programme Spring 2026
Join the Aalto Creatives afterwork and info session on 20.1.2026 to find out more about the open call and meet the Aalto Creatives team. At this event, alums from the pre-incubator tell about their entrepreneurial journeys and share their experiences from participating in the AC programme.
Research into physics of microscopically tiny organisms lands prestigious prize
Physics Professor Matilda Backholm received this year’s Väisälä award, handed out by the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters.