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The Department of Film (ELO) received the award at the university’s opening ceremony for the academic year in Otaniemi, Espoo 1 September.

The award citation highlights the impact of ELO’s education on the success of its students: in recent years, the department’s student films have gained visibility and received awards both in Finland and internationally.

“Film education by the Department of Film, ELO, has received a series of national and international accolades for its quality. Two years running, ELO’s MA film has been selected for La Cinef, the Cannes Film Festival student film series – a section dedicated to the future voices of filmmaking. La Cinef receives close to 3,000 submissions a year, of which fewer than 20 are selected for screening.​ In the last four years (2022–2025), ELO student films have won four out of five Jussi awards for best short film. The Haugesund Film Festival jury, quite exceptionally, honoured Aalto University for the work ELO has put into fostering talent and providing much-needed hope for the future of the industry,” the award citation states.

International success does not happen overnight

Yasmin Najjar’s master’s thesis film TJ28 was selected for the La Cinef section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. The competition showcases the best short films from film schools around the world. This marked the second consecutive year that an ELO student film was selected for La Cinef: in 2025, Helmi Donner’s master’s thesis film The Lightning Rod (Matalapaine) was among the selected films.

The Cannes success is not an isolated achievement, but part of a longer tradition. Previous La Cinef selections have included films by current ELO professors such as Salla Sorri, with To Return Until (Ainahan ne palaa), and Juho Kuosmanen, with The Painting Sellers (Taulukauppiaat). Kuosmanen’s film also won the top prize in the Cinéfondation competition. Films made while Kari Juusonen and Hanna Maylett, both now professors at ELO, were students have also been selected for the section.

ELO’s track record is equally strong at Finland’s Jussi Awards. The Jussi Award for Best Short Film has gone to an ELO student or alum for four consecutive years: Emilia Hernesniemi’s Bye bye Tornio (Hei hei Tornio) won in 2022, Iiti Yli-Harja’s All My Mom’s Phone Calls (Kaikki äitini puhelut) in 2023, ELO alum Elina Talvensaari’s How to Please in 2024, and Veera Lamminpää’s Fish River Anthology (�ѱ����Ա��ä����ä) in 2025. Hernesniemi’s win in 2022 was the first time a student film had received a Jussi Award.

Recognising the work behind the success

The Aalto Education Impact Award highlights the work that can easily remain in the shadow of individual awards and festival selections.

At ELO, making a student film is a comprehensive process in which students learn not only artistic practice but also the different aspects of film production, working together in an environment that mirrors professional film production.

Following the latest Cannes selection, Anna Heiskanen, Head of ELO, emphasised that international success requires strong expertise and talented students, as well as a continued investment in teaching and production resources.

The success of ELO’s students in recent years also invites us to look beyond individual awards. The department has played a role in nurturing a new generation of Finnish filmmakers at a time when Finnish films have been gaining increasing visibility at international festivals.

The success of ELO filmmakers is part of a broader generational shift, with a new generation of filmmakers bringing diverse, distinctive and confident voices to the screen. Ultimately, perhaps the most important task of a film school is not to train award winners, but to empower filmmakers who have something to say to the world.