Since 2005, Milja Mikkola has been part of Midnight Sun Film Festival, the renowned annual film celebration in the Arctic Circle, where she currently is its Programme Manager. She is a member of the recently formed Europa Film Festivals network, which aims to formalise a system for sharing information, strategies, and culture amongst festivals to build a strong voice for film in Europe. Milja is also part of the programming collective that guides the arthouuse Orion Cinema in Helsinki. Alongside film curation, as founder and co-director of Helsinki's Viva Erotica Film Festival, Milja develops film programmes that celebrate the history of sex with a focus on avant-garde erotica. Milja studied film theory at Brunel University London and visual journalism at Finland's Tampere University. Fully trained as an analogue projectionist decades ago, her celluloid roots are embedded in the film world.