The full programme of the 33rd Tampere International Short Film Festival will be published in the festival brochure, coming out as a free tabloid-sized magazine in early February.

The themes below represent merely a part of the programme, but they provide some pointers as to what the audiences will be seeing at this spring's festival.

Competitions

The traditional and highly regarded competitions once again introduce us to the latest in the world of short film, both Finnish and international. A record number of entries were submitted to the international competition this year. The films chosen for the competitions will be announced at the beginning of February.

Saint Petersburg 300 Years

Tampere Film Festival pays homage to Saint Petersburg on its 300th anniversary by screening a wide variety of films dealing with the city. The selection covers both the history and the underground of Saint Petersburg. The new generation of the city's filmmakers will also get their moment in the spotlight. Several coinciding events on the theme of Saint Petersburg have also been planned.

Dhow Countries: Africa and India

Dhow countries include the states surrounding the Indian Ocean and the islands in the ocean. Among the things bringing these countries together is the annual Festival of the Dhow Countries, which also features films produced in the area.

Tampere Film Festival 2003 presents a selection of African films under the heading African Reality. These films provide a cross-section of Africa today, employing the means of modern music documentary as well as traditional narration.

The main theme of the Indian Independents selection are the strong and progressive women of India. This series of documentaries features, among others, the film War and Peace / Jeng aur aman which has received awards at several film festivals. The film was shot over a period of three years in the middle of the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests.

Heja Svärje! - Swedish Case Records

Three of the screenings at Tampere Film Festival are dedicated to Swedish short films. This selection features animations, documentaries and fiction films, covering the time span between the late 1980s and the year 2002.

In the tradition of European Case Records, the films take the viewer on a tour of both the front and the back yards of the Social Democratic welfare state, yet occasionally managing to show their subject in a positive light. The makers of these films include old hands such as Leif Furhammar, Roy Andersson and Johan Hagelbäck, as well as young talent like Magnus Carlsson and Lukas Moodysson. A whole screening will be devoted solely to Jens Jonsson, the short film maker whose career has experienced a meteoric rise during the past couple of years.

Digital Film

Cinema has moved into the digital age for good. The Micromovies competition, introduced into the festival programme last year, will continue at this year's festival. Touring digital film festivals - Resfest from the United States and the no-budget alternative, Virtual Light from Europe - will make an appearance in Tampere, too.

Film Archive

The fruitful collaboration of Tampere Film Festival and the Finnish Film Archive to showcase old and new Finnish short films began back in 1984. This makes 2003 the 20th year that archive films have been shown at Tampere Film Festival. This year's archive screenings will focus on the events of 1918, Finlandia newsreels and the Miss Finlands of bygone decades. Over the years (1984-2002) 628 archive films have been screened at Tampere Film Festival (556 short films, 35 commercial films and 37 trailers). Film archive screenings continue to take place at the legendary 74-year-old Tampere film theatre Kino-palatsi.