I am Topi Raulo (b. 1991), a Finnish film director and writer. A descendant of Karelian refugees, who writes from a strange, isolated town near the Finnish-Russian border. A jazzer who seeks ways to “play the bass” with the tension of humanity’s stretching away from the natural order.
In my work, I want to make sense of us: the weird, beautiful survivors of catastrophes. Refugees, pilgrims, and messengers. The apples that have rolled under the fruit counter. The lost and found. The eternal captives of the “between worlds.”
These stray animals on a dying oasis. Misled and naive bureaucrats in a grove. Forest animals who have cut down too many trees. So many, they’ve forgotten that they still live in a forest. Yet, I am told this is the same species who once realized the forest existed. Do they still have that magic?
EDUCATION
→ 2023: Master of Arts in Film Directing
(Aalto University, ARTS/ELO)
→ 2019: Bachelor of Arts in Film Directing
(Aalto University, ARTS/ELO)
FILMOGRAPHY
2026 Metsä jossa elät / The forest you live in
(Wildhog prod. Oy, 12min, drama)
2026 Rajalangat / Ukonilma / Suon keskellä
(not a computer films, 3x5min, dance)
2025 Lupiineja kedolla & Erebos
(Mieronsuo, 5min, music videos)
2024 Suonsilmä / Eye of the Fen
(ELO, 20min, sci-fi/dystopian/comedy)
2021 Kiperkotska
(ELO / Mieronsuo, 7min, music video)
2020 Karanteeni erotti meidät
(Suora banaani, 5min, music video)
2019 Daemonia Neurofunk
(Cinecat, 20min, absurdist comedy)
2018 Harmaa susi / Grey Wolf
(ELO, 20min, war/drama)
2016 Tuntematon Vlogilas
(YLE, 5x12min, absurdist comedy)
…more in “films“
LATEST/UPCOMING EVENTS
2026:
Let’s go Tampere! Two films selected to Tampere Film Festival!
→ In National Competition: The Forest You Live In
Screenings: March 5th 13:45 and March 6th 15:15
@ Finnkino Cine Atlas 2 (link)
→ In “Visions of Swampland” -series: Eye of the Fen
Screenings: March 5th 20:15 and March 7th 21:00
@ Finnkino Cine Atlas 4 (link)
2024-2025:
→ April 24th 2025: Suonsilmä + Q&A @ HAT-group SYMPOSIUM on Change and Memory in complex systems in Tampere Niagara Art House Cinema.
https://blogs.helsinki.fi/hatresearch/2025/03/
→ Suonsilmä in Les Intergalactiques Sci-Fi Festival, Official selection, COMPÉTITION COURTS MÉTRAGES, Première Française. (Lyon, France)
→ Suonsilmä in EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival, Official selection, International premiere. (Torun, Poland)
→ Suonsilmä in Blue Sea Film Festival, Official selection, Mention of Honor: Brave Vision. (Rauma, Finland)
→ Suonsilmä in Helsinki Design Week, Designs for a Cooler Planet, Special programme (Helsinki, Finland)
→ Suonsilmä in SES / Lyhyesti kerran kuussa: Tulevaisuuden horisontti. Official selection (Helsinki, Finland)
→ Suonsilmä in Tampere Film Festival, Official selection, Generation XYZ, Finnish Premiere. (Tampere, Finland)
→ Mieronsuo duo show at AntFest, Lahti
→ Mieronsuo mega extravaganza at Kallioklubi, Kaustinen Folk Music Festival 2024
→ New album: Pimeyden syliin (comp. lyr. Topi Raulo)
…
(c) Topi Raulo