Aki Kaurismäki

Directing·Apr 4, 1957·Orimattila, Finland

Rate

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 described as Finland's best-known film director. He is the younger brother of director and screenwriter Mika Kaurismäki. After graduating in media studies from the University 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. 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 film The Liar (1981). Together they founded the production company Villealfa Filmproductions and later the Midnight Sun Film Festival. His debut as an independent director was Crime and Punishment (1983), an adaptation of Dostoyevsky's novel set in modern Helsinki. He gained worldwide attention with Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). Kaurismäki's film Ariel (1988) was entered into the 16th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Prix FIPRESCI. Kaurismäki's most acclaimed film has been The Man Without a Past, which won the Grand Prix and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2003. 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 film, Lights 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 against U.S. President George W. Bush's foreign policy. In 2002 Kaurismäki also boycotted the 40th New York Film Festival in a show of solidarity with the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, who was not given a US visa in time for the festival. Kaurismäki's 2017 film The Other Side of Hope won the Silver Bear for Best Director award at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. At the same festival he also announced that it would be his last film, although the retirement was short-lived as he began filming Fallen Leaves in 2022, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023.

Film	Credit
Fallen Leaves2023 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Cinéma Laika2023 · Self	Self
The Dinosaur2021 · Self	Self
Aki and Peter2018 · Himself	Himself
Plankton Salesmen2017 · Self (archive footage)	Self (archive footage)
The Other Side of Hope2017 · Director, Producer, Writer	Director, Producer, Writer
PPeter von Bagh2016 · Self	Self
VValokeilassa Atte Blom2015 · Self	Self
Temples of Dreams2015 · Self	Self
Dirty Hands2015 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Il était une fois... Le Havre2014 · himself	himself
Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla2013 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Historic Centre2012 · Director, Screenplay, Producer	Director, Screenplay, Producer
Tavern Man2012 · Producer, Director, Writer	Producer, Director, Writer
A Special Day2012 · Self	Self
Le Havre2011 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Bohemian Eyes2011 · Self	Self
Barzakh2011 · Producer	Producer
Bad Family2010 · Producer	Producer
Jeanne d'Arc2009 · Producer	Producer
Calamari Union2008 · Writer	Writer
Critic2008 · Self	Self
To Each His Own Cinema2007 · Director, Producer, Writer	Director, Producer, Writer
The Foundry2007 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Lights in the Dusk2006 · Director, Producer, Writer	Director, Producer, Writer
Aaltra2004 · Aaltra's Boss	Aaltra's Boss
Visions of Europe2004 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Bico2004 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet2002 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Dogs Have No Hell2002 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
The Man Without a Past2002 · Producer, Director, Writer	Producer, Director, Writer
Léaud l'unique2001 · Self - filmmaker	Self - filmmaker
Aki Kaurismäki2001 · Self	Self
The Classic2001 · Producer	Producer
A Stone Left Unturned2000 · Producer	Producer
BBelief, Hope and Blood2000 · Producer	Producer
Juha1999 · Director, Screenplay, Producer	Director, Screenplay, Producer
Vaiennut kylä1997 · Producer	Producer
Drifting Clouds1996 · Producer, Director, Writer	Producer, Director, Writer
I Am Curious, Film1995 · Self	Self
Iron Horsemen1995 · Cadillac Man, Producer	Cadillac Man, Producer
Total Balalaika Show1994 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses1994 · Factory Worker Imitating Chaplin (uncredited), Director, Producer, Screenplay	Factory Worker Imitating Chaplin (uncredited), Director, Producer, Screenplay
Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana1994 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Talking with Ozu1993 · Self	Self
Our Father…1993 · Producer	Producer
KKaksi vanhaa varasta1993 · Producer	Producer
Ripa Hits the Skids1993 · Producer	Producer