Aki Kaurismäki | |
|---|---|
 Aki Kaurismäki at the2017 Berlin Film Festival | |
| Born | Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (1957-04-04)4 April 1957 (age 68) Orimattila, Finland |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈɑkiˈo̞lɑʋiˈkɑu̯rismæki]ⓘ; born 4 April 1957) is a Finnish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winningDrifting Clouds (1996),The Man Without a Past (2002),Le Havre (2011),The Other Side of Hope (2017) andFallen Leaves (2023), as well asLeningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). He has been described as Finland's best-known film director.[1]
After graduating in media studies from theUniversity of Tampere, Kaurismäki worked as a bricklayer, postman, and dish-washer, long before pursuing his interest in cinema, first as a critic, and later as a screenwriter & director.[2] He started his career as a co-screenwriter and actor in films made by his older brother,Mika Kaurismäki. He played the main role in Mika's filmThe Liar (1981). Together they founded the production company Villealfa Filmproductions and later theMidnight Sun Film Festival. His debut as an independent director wasCrime and Punishment (1983), an adaptation ofDostoyevsky's novel set in modernHelsinki. He gained worldwide attention withLeningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). In 1992, the New York Times film criticVincent Canby declared Kaurismäki "an original ... one of cinema's most distinctive and idiosyncratic new artists, and possibly one of the most serious.... [He] could well turn out to be the seminal European filmmaker of the '90s."[3]
In 2021, Kaursimäki opened the movie theaterKino Laika in his hometown ofKarkkila, the subject of a 2023 documentary "Cinéma Laika" by Croatian-French film director Veljko Vidak.[4]
In 1989, he emigrated with his wife, Paula Oinonen, toPortugal, saying "in all of Helsinki there is no place left where I could place my camera".[5] As of 2023, he is still based in Portugal.[6]In Helsinki, Kaurismäki is the co-owner of a complex, Andorra, that incorporates a cinema, several bars and a pool hall featuring a giant poster forRobert Bresson'sL’Argent. It also features the jukebox fromLeningrad Cowboys Meet Moses.[7]
Kaurismäki is known for his extremely minimalistic style. He has been called anauteur,[8][9] since he writes, directs, produces and usually edits the films himself, and thus introduces his personal "drollery and deadpan"[10] style. The camera is usually still.[11] Events are shown in a plain manner and characters are usually left alone facing the consequences. However, despite their tragedies and setbacks, the characters do not give up and eventually survive.[9]
Much of Kaurismäki's work is centred on Helsinki, such as the filmCalamari Union, theproletariat trilogy (Shadows in Paradise,Ariel andThe Match Factory Girl) and the Finland trilogy (Drifting Clouds,The Man Without a Past andLights in the Dusk). His vision of Helsinki is critical and singularly unromantic. Indeed, his characters often speak about how they wish to get away from Helsinki. Kaurismäki also uses, on purpose, characters, elements and settings that hark back to the 1960s and 1970s.[9]
Kaurismäki has been a vocal critic ofdigital cinematography, calling it "a devil's invention which destroys human culture as we know it, robs us of our jobs and makes us in the long run slaves"[12] and, in 2012, going as far as claiming that he "won't make a digital film in this life".[13] However, in 2014 he softened his position, saying that "in order to maintain my humble film oeuvre accessible to a potential audience, I have ended up in rendering it to digital in all its present and several of its as yet unknown forms",[12] but that he would opt for traditional 35mm film "as long as it is possible regarding access to stock and existence of laboratories".[12]
The political context of Kaurismäki's work is very much influenced by his attitude to Finland's treatment of the working class. In his view, the social and political ramifications of class structures and lack of economic parity render lower-class workers replaceable cogs in an outdated machine.[14]
In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Kaurismäki signed a letter endorsing theUK Labour Party underJeremy Corbyn's leadership in the2019 UK general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."[15][16]
Kaurismäki has been a critic ofFinland's immigration policy. When Iraqi refugees arrived in Finland, Kaurismäki said many people in the country "perceived that as an attack, like a war." He was alarmed by their reaction and decided to make a film,The Other Side of Hope, in an effort to "change the Finns' attitude." "I respect Mrs. Merkel," he said, referring to the German chancellor's open-door refugee policy, "She is the only politician who seems to be at least interested in the problem."[17] In a 2007 interview with the film scholar Andrew Nestingen, Kaurismäki said: "The real disgrace here is Finland's refugee policy, which is shameful. We refuse refugee status on the flimsiest of grounds and send people back to secure places like Darfur, Iraq, and Somalia. It's perfectly safe, go ahead. Our policy is a stain among the Nordic nations. Shameful."[18]In 2023, he said he was againstFinland's entry into NATO.[6]
In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Kaurismäki signed an open letter published inLibération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[19][20][21]
In May 2025, Kaurismäki signed an open letter criticizing the film industry's "passivity" about the war in Gaza.[22] In September 2025, Kaurismäki signed an open pledge withFilm Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated ingenocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."[23]
Feature films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | The Worthless | No | Yes | No | No | |
| Crime and Punishment | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| 1984 | The Clan - Tale of the Frogs | No | Yes | No | No | |
| 1985 | Calamari Union | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also composer |
| Rosso | No | Yes | No | No | ||
| 1986 | Shadows in Paradise | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1987 | The Final Arrangement | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Hamlet Goes Business | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 1988 | Ariel | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1989 | Dirty Hands | Yes | Yes | No | No | TV Movie |
| Leningrad Cowboys Go America | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 1990 | The Match Factory Girl | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| I Hired a Contract Killer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1992 | La Vie de Bohème | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1994 | Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1996 | Drifting Clouds | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1999 | Juha | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | The Man Without a Past | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2006 | Lights in the Dusk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2011 | Le Havre | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | [24] |
| 2017 | The Other Side of Hope | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | [25] |
| 2023 | Fallen Leaves | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | [26] |
Documentaries
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | The Saimaa Gesture | Yes | Uncredited | Uncredited | Co-directed withMika Kaurismäki |
| 1994 | Total Balalaika Show | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | Juice Leskinen & Grand Slam: Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla | Yes | Concept | Yes | Documentary short film |
Short films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | The Liar | No | Yes | No | No | Medium-length film |
| 1982 | The Liar 2 | No | Yes | No | No | |
| 1986 | Rocky VI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1992 | Shit Happens | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 1996 | Employment Agent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | Dogs Have No Hell | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film included in the anthology filmTen Minutes Older - The Trumpet |
| 2004 | Bico | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film included in the anthology filmVisions of Europe |
| 2006 | The Foundry | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film included in the anthology filmTo Each His Own Cinema |
| 2012 | Tavern Man | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film included in the anthology filmCentro Histórico |
Music Videos
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Thru the Wire | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rich Little Bitch | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| L.A. Woman | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1992 | Those Were The Days | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1993 | These Boots | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1996 | Always Be a Human | Yes | No | No | No |
As an actor
Kaurismäki's filmAriel (1988) was entered into the16th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the PrixFIPRESCI.[27]
Kaurismäki's most acclaimed film has beenThe Man Without a Past, which won theGrand Prix and thePrize of the Ecumenical Jury at the2002 Cannes Film Festival[28] and was nominated for anAcademy Award in theBest Foreign Language Film category in2003. However, Kaurismäki refused to attend the Oscar ceremony, asserting that he did not feel like partying in a country that was in a state of war. Kaurismäki's next filmLights in the Dusk was also chosen to be Finland's nominee for best foreign-language film, but Kaurismäki again boycotted the awards and refused the nomination, as a protest againstU.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush's foreign policy. In 2002 Kaurismäki also boycotted the 40thNew York Film Festival in a show of solidarity with the Iranian directorAbbas Kiarostami, who was not given a US visa in time for the festival.[29]
Kaurismäki's 2017 filmThe Other Side of Hope won theSilver Bear for Best Director award at the67th Berlin International Film Festival.[30] At the same festival he also announced that it would be his last film as a director, although the retirement was short-lived as he began filming another film,Fallen Leaves, which premiered at the2023 Cannes Film Festival.[31] Kaurismäki became the second director, afterPaul Thomas Anderson, to win his thirdFIPRESCI Grand Prix.[32]
Cannes Jury Prize
2023Fallen Leaves[33]
Silver Bear
2017The Other Side of Hope
Cannes Grand Prix
2002The Man Without a Past
Cannes Ecumenical Jury Special Mention
1996Drifting Clouds
Cannes Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
2002The Man Without a Past
FIPRESCI Award
2011Le Havre
FIPRESCI Grand Prix
2002The Man Without a Past
2017The Other Side of Hope
2023Fallen Leaves
Jussi for Best Film
2006Lights in the Dusk
Jussi for Best Debut Film
1983Crime and Punishment
Jussi for Best Script
1983Crime and Punishment
1996Drifting Clouds
2002The Man Without a Past
2011Le Havre
Jussi for Best Direction
1990The Match Factory Girl
1992La vie de bohème
1996Drifting Clouds
2002The Man Without a Past
São Paulo Audience Award for Best Feature
1996Drifting Clouds
