Videotapes have taken over the Film Festival office. It's the beginning of December, and the submission deadline for the international short film competition has just passed. While an Indian video tape copy is playing on the VCR, a messenger boy drops in to deliver one more packet. In yellow post parcels hundreds of movies from all over the world are waiting to be numbered.

The chaos is forced into order by six people. Program designer Tuula Kumpunen has started working in the office already in September, the other five started in October. The tapes are now going for the previews and telephones are in heavy use as pieces of last minute information are being checked. Some movies have been sent with incomplete information, and this is the last moment to get the facts straight. Before the pre-selection the films are labeled and their date of completion is checked, because only films that have been completed within last two years are eligible to apply. Final prints of the films arrive closer to the festival.

- During past years there has been some additional suspense due to the strike of air-traffic controllers and in the 1980's when it was unsure whether all the film reels from the east would make it here in time. Some were delivered through Estonia, but despite promises, some never arrived, Tuula Kumpunen remembers. The traffic of films continues even after the festival is over, as then all the films are returned.

Work is done all through the year, but when March is nearing, the pace picks up and organisation grows. Executive director Juhani Alanen estimates that approximately 150 volunteers may participate. Often there are more volunteers than can be hired; sometimes up to 300 voluntary workers have showed up at the task assignment meeting.

- Then we are puzzled, Juhani says. There is not enough room for so many people in the office.

The job of this year's guest co-ordinator, Marika Kyllönen, includes arranging the hotel reservations and plane tickets for those arriving from afar. According to Marika Kyllönen the people arriving in film festival are usually well behaved, and getting to know new people is definitely the best part of the job. An ideal customer is challenging and eager to learn, a person who likes being with other people and makes others feel comfortable as well. People are encouraged to ask if anything is unclear to them, as the co-ordinator is happy to be of service. Usually festival guests are well aware of the fact that in a big event everything does not always go according to plan. A spirit of adventure is traveller's best companion.

- It is good to travel with an open mind, Marika sums up.

Raimo Silius can't help smiling, when he remembers one incident. The auditorium of Tampere Hall got filled with smoke and had to be evacuated. The screening was aborted and the spectators had to leave, as the movie projector caught fire. However, the mishap did not cause serious damage - even the film reel was unharmed. Silius believes that the episode was caused by the inexperience of the projectionist. The veteran has a lot to smile about, because he is one of the founders of the festival and has experienced every single Tampere Film Festival since 1970. He also met the woman of his life at a movie theatre auditorium and they have been together since then.

- People do not come to Tampere to see The Lord of the Rings, Silius remarks. The goal is to offer a wide variety of high-quality short films, which are usually completely absent from the everyday programme of big movie theatres. The festival does not try to please everyone, but there has always been a plenitude of spectators, from children to senior citizens.

It is hard to tell in advance what people will like, and good movies do not necessary find the audience at once. However, many of the all-time most popular short movies have been first seen in Finland at Tampere Film Festival, Dianne Jackson's Snowman for instance. This Grand Prix winner which most Finns know as the Christmas Eve morning animation has gained huge international success, including an Oscar nomination.

One way to improve the film festival even further would be finding a way to get the screening locations closer to each other, Silius says. There is no room for all the screenings under any one roof, but after a moment of thinking Silius comes up with a solution. An open-air screening in March has never before been arranged in Tampere...