Voionmaa Institute
If you are interested in media production, the Voionmaa Institute is one of the few places in Finland where fiction and documentary film, film acting, photography, journalism and TV and radio work can be studied. We are specialised in different fields of media since the 1980s. The Voionmaa Institute was founded in 1951.The institute is private and managed by the Väinö Voionmaa Foundation. Väinö Voionmaa (1869-1947) was a distinguished figure in Finnish politics and education as a minister and a professor of history. Although privately owned, the Voionmaa Institute is acknowledged and certified by the Finnish Ministry of Education.
The study programmes of our departments last ten months, from mid-August to early June. The Institute is situated in the countryside of the municipality of Ylöjärvi by the lake Näsijärvi, 24 kilometres from Tampere and 200 kilometres north of Helsinki.
In addition, we also offer short weekend-type courses and in summertime, longer-term courses providing participants the opportunity to practise their skills in writing, editing, photographing, filming, website creation and giving public presentations – in other words, all the ways of communicating. Short courses are based on demand and tailored individually for each group. Furthermore, we offer accommodation and catering services and also have meeting rooms to let.
International students
Thus far we have had foreign students from the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden, Germany and Russia. Teaching is provided in Finnish or bilingually also in English. Living at the Voionmaa Institute in the middle of Finnish forest countryside can be an enriching and impressive experience for foreign students. However, the location of the Institute is not too remote: Tampere, a lively town with more than 200,000 inhabitants, can be reached by bus in less than one hour.
