Directing

Aki Kaurismäki

Born April 4, 1957 · Orimattila, Finland (age 69)

Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (Finnish: [ˈɑki ˈkɑu̯rismæki]; born April 4,1957; Orimattila) is a Finnish film director, screenwriter, producer, editor and actor. He is best known for the award-winning Drifting Clouds (1996), The Man Without a Past (2002), Le Havre (2011), The Other Side of Hope (2017) and Fallen Leaves (2023), as well as for the mockumentary Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). He is descr…

Known For

Le Havre

Le Havre · 2011

MovieDramaComedy

In the French harbor city of Le Havre, an elderly shoeshiner with an ailing wife crosses paths with a young African refugee pursued by the police for deportation.

Ariel

MovieDramaRomance

A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.

Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves · 2023

MovieRomanceDrama

In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles – from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.

The Match Factory Girl

The Match Factory Girl · 1990

The Match Factory Girl

Iris is a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a match factory, who dreams of finding love at the local dancehall. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge.

The Other Side of Hope

The Other Side of Hope · 2017

The Other Side of Hope

MovieComedyDrama

A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.

To Each His Own Cinema

To Each His Own Cinema · 2007

To Each His Own Cinema

MovieComedyDrama

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.

Shadows in Paradise

Shadows in Paradise · 1986

Shadows in Paradise

MovieDramaRomance

Nikander, a rubbish collector and would-be entrepreneur, finds his plans for success dashed when his business associate dies. One evening, he meets Ilona, a down-on-her-luck cashier, in a local supermarket. Falteringly, a bond begins to develop between them.

A Stone Left Unturned

A Stone Left Unturned · 2000

A Stone Left Unturned

MovieComedyDrama

The relationship between a father and his son is an infinite story with very few words. Silence is golden when it comes to expressing emotions.

Filmography

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Le Havre

Le Havre · 2011

MovieDramaComedy

In the French harbor city of Le Havre, an elderly shoeshiner with an ailing wife crosses paths with a young African refugee pursued by the police for deportation.

Director

Ariel

MovieDramaRomance

A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.

Director

Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves · 2023

MovieRomanceDrama

In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles – from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.

Director

The Match Factory Girl

The Match Factory Girl · 1990

The Match Factory Girl

Iris is a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a match factory, who dreams of finding love at the local dancehall. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge.

Director

The Other Side of Hope

The Other Side of Hope · 2017

The Other Side of Hope

MovieComedyDrama

A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.

Director

To Each His Own Cinema

To Each His Own Cinema · 2007

To Each His Own Cinema

MovieComedyDrama

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.

Director

Shadows in Paradise

Shadows in Paradise · 1986

Shadows in Paradise

MovieDramaRomance

Nikander, a rubbish collector and would-be entrepreneur, finds his plans for success dashed when his business associate dies. One evening, he meets Ilona, a down-on-her-luck cashier, in a local supermarket. Falteringly, a bond begins to develop between them.

Director

A Stone Left Unturned

A Stone Left Unturned · 2000

A Stone Left Unturned

MovieComedyDrama

The relationship between a father and his son is an infinite story with very few words. Silence is golden when it comes to expressing emotions.

Producer

Helsinki, Forever

Helsinki, Forever · 2008

Helsinki, Forever

MovieDocumentary

Helsinki, Forever is a montage film about the city of Helsinki by the award-winning Finnish film director and academic Peter von Bagh. The film draws a portrait of Helsinki and also acts as an essay on Finnish culture in a wider sense. It shows Helsinki as captured by leading Finnish feature film and documentary makers over a period of one hundred years.

Thanks

The Man Without a Past

The Man Without a Past · 2002

The Man Without a Past

MovieDramaRomance

Arriving in Helsinki, a nameless man is beaten within an inch of his life by thugs, miraculously recovering only to find that he has completely lost his memory. Back on the streets, he attempts to begin again from zero, befriending a moody dog and becoming besotted with a Salvation Army volunteer.

Director

Lights in the Dusk

Lights in the Dusk · 2006

Lights in the Dusk

Outcast by his co-workers and living alone, Koistinen is a security guard who works the night shift in a luxury shopping mall in Helsinki. But when icy blonde Mirja approaches him, the lonely Koistinen falls helplessly for her, unaware she is manipulating him for her criminal boyfriend.

Director

Drifting Clouds

Drifting Clouds · 1996

Drifting Clouds

The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they must hit the streets of Helsinki, facing up to hardship and humiliation in their quest for survival, guided through the gloom by a ray of hope.

Director

Shit Happens

Shit Happens · 1992

Producer

Calamari Union

Calamari Union · 1985

MovieComedyDrama

A group of men all called Frank—except for one named Pekka—have had enough of life in their working-class neighborhood, so they set off for a better existence in the magical seaside district of Eira. But the way is long, and the group face many hurdles including stray dogs and defunct streetlights.

Writer

Morena

Redbeard leaves Finland to spend time in Berlin wandering in and out of bars. He meets up with a beautiful Italian waitress, who spends one night with him but is then dismissed.

Production Sound Mixer

La Vie de Bohème

La Vie de Bohème · 1992

La Vie de Bohème

MovieDramaRomance

Three penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no visa, Marcel, a playwright and magazine editor with no publisher, and Schaunard, a post-modernist composer of execrable noise.

Director

Rosso

MovieCrimeDrama

Giancarlo Rosso, a professional assassin from Sicily, is sent to Finland to kill a very specific target. When he reaches the country, he discovers that the target is one of his past loves.

Dialogue

Tavern Man

Tavern Man · 2012

MovieDramaComedy

A typical day in the life of a lonely man who works in an unsuccessful tavern located in the historical center of Guimarães, an old town in Portugal. During the day, the man spends his time coming up with new menu items for his tavern, while at night he gets ready to meet someone special.

Director

Bico

MovieDocumentary

A lyrical documentary captures a small mountain village in Portugal, showcasing its timeless essence amid historical changes. As men leave for stone-cutting work, women take charge in their absence, surrounded by snowy mountains and wandering sheep and cattle, with dogs guarding against wolves.

Director

The Worthless

The Worthless · 1982

MovieCrimeDrama

Manne, Harri, and Ville Alfa are rootless twenty-somethings in search of purpose for their banal lives. After Manne steals a priceless painting from a group of petty criminals, Manne and Harri flee from the gangsters across Finland, while Ville goes to Paris. On the road they meet Veera, an old girlfriend of Harri's, and try to avoid the gangsters in pursuit.

Production Design

I Hired a Contract Killer

I Hired a Contract Killer · 1990

I Hired a Contract Killer

MovieComedyCrime

After losing his job and realizing that he is alone in the world, a businessman opts to voluntarily end his life. Lacking courage, he hires a contract killer to do the job. Then, while awaiting his demise, he meets a woman and promptly falls in love.

Director

Barzakh

Barzakh · 2011

MovieDocumentary

In a Chechen city recovering after the war, a man disappears. As daily life goes on, those in search are drawn into a world where encounters with diviners and legal advisors, with the torturers and the tortured, with secret prisons and mythical lakes all become commonplace.

Producer

Leningrad Cowboys Go America

Leningrad Cowboys Go America · 1989

Leningrad Cowboys Go America

MovieComedyMusic

The Leningrad Cowboys, a group of Siberian musicians, and their manager, travel to America seeking fame and fortune. As they cross the country, trying to get to a wedding in Mexico, they are followed by the village idiot, who wishes to join the band.

Director

Calamari Union

Calamari Union · 2008

MovieDramaComedy

17 men named Frank walk across Seattle hoping to find a better life. A remake of Calamari Union (1985).

Writer