Jukka-Pekka Laakso is the director of Tampere Film Festival, where he has been involved with the selection and programming since 2000. As Festival Director, he shares the responsibility of strategic planning and programming with the Co-Director. He acts also as Executive Director of the Pirkanmaa Film Centre, a local film centre in Tampere. Pirkanmaa is a non-profit organisation that runs an art-house cinema, distributes films in Finland and works extensively with media education. Laakso is a member of European Film Academy.