Aki Kaurismäki

Aki Kaurismäki studied at University of Tampere. The recorded working language is Finnish, Swedish and Portuguese. The field of work recorded is film direction and film screenwriting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are Minimalism. Jean-Pierre Melville is recorded as an influence. Places of work recorded in the authority are Helsinki. Work by Aki Kaurismäki is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Knight of the Legion of Honour, Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland, FIPRESCI Prize at Berlinale and Nordic Council Film Prize.

• Name — Aki Kaurismäki • Born — 4 April 1957 • Birthplace — Orimattila, Finland • Relatives — Mika Kaurismäki (brother) • Occupation — Filmmaker • Spouse — Paula Oinonen

Aki Olavi Kaurismäki was born in Orimattila on 4 April 1957. His older brother, Mika, is also a filmmaker. He grew up in Karkkila and graduated with a degree in media studies from the University of Tampere, but did not pursue a career in film immediately; he instead went to work as a bricklayer, dish washer, and postman. His first foray into the film world was as a critic.

Kaurismäki started his career as a co-writer and actor in films made by his brother Mika. He played the main role in Mika's film The Liar (1981). They co-founded the production company Villealfa Filmproductions and the Midnight Sun Film Festival. Kaurismäki's directorial debut was Crime and Punishment (1983), an adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novel set in modern Helsinki. He gained worldwide attention with Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). In 1992, New York Times film critic Vincent Canby declared him "an original, one of cinema's most distinctive and idiosyncratic new artists, and possibly one of the most serious" and said he "could well turn out to be the seminal European filmmaker of the '90s". He has since gone to make films such as Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), Drifting Clouds (1996), The Man Without a Past (2002), Le Havre (2011), The Other Side of Hope (2017), and Fallen Leaves (2023). He has been described as Finland's most famous film director.

• Illustration — Kaurismäki in 1985 Kaurismäki is known for his minimalistic style. He has been called an auteur as he usually writes, produces, and edits the films he has directed and thus introduces his personal "droll, deadpan" style. In Kaurismäki's films, the camera is often still. Events are shown in a plain manner and characters are usually left alone facing the consequences. However, despite their tragedies and setbacks, they do not give up and eventually survive. Much of Kaurismäki's work takes place in Helsinki, of which his view is critical and completely unromantic, with his characters often speaking about how they wish to leave the city. He also uses characters, elements, and settings that evoke the 1960s and 1970s.

• Illustration — Kaurismäki in 1990 The political context of Kaurismäki's work is highly 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. Kaurismäki has criticised Finland's strict immigration policy. When Iraqi refugees arrived in Finland, he 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". He later said of German chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy, "I respect Mrs. Merkel. She is the only politician who seems to be at least interested in the problem." In a 2007 interview with film scholar Andrew Nestingen, he 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. [We say] 'It's perfectly safe, go ahead.' Our policy is a stain among the Nordic nations. Shameful." In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Kaurismäki signed an open letter endorsing the British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 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". In May 2023, Kaurismäki spoke out against the potential entry of Finland into NATO. In December 2023, in the midst of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Kaurismäki joined over 50 filmmakers in signing an open letter published in Libération. The letter demanded a ceasefire, an end to the killing of civilians, the establishment of a corridor into Gaza for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages. In May 2025, Kaurismäki and over 350 other film industry figures signed an open letter criticizing the industry's passivity about the war in Gaza. Four months later, he joined numerous others in signing an open agreement with Film Workers for Palestine, pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people".

• Illustration — Kaurismäki in 2012 Kaurismäki and his wife Paula Oinonen have lived in Lisbon since 1989. He said they moved to Portugal because "in all of Helsinki there is no place left where [he] could place [his] camera", though he has since continued to set his films in Helsinki. His brother Mika also moved to Portugal with his Brazilian wife in the mid-2010s after nearly 30 years in Brazil, but they returned to Finland in 2019. Kaurismäki co-owns a complex in Helsinki called Andorra, which features a cinema, several bars, and a pool hall with a giant poster of Robert Bresson's L'Argent and the jukebox from Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses. In 2021, he opened a cinema called Kino Laika in his hometown of Karkkila, which was the subject of the documentary Cinéma Laika by Croatian-French director Veljko Vidak.

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer — Notes • 1981 — The Saimaa Gesture — Uncredited — Uncredited — Co-directed with Mika Kaurismäki • 1994 — Total Balalaika Show • 2013 — Juice Leskinen & Grand Slam: Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla — Concept — Documentary short film

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer — Editor • 1987 — "Thru the Wire" • "Rich Little Bitch" • "L.A. Woman" • 1992 — "Those Were the Days" • 1993 — "These Boots" • 1996 — "Always Be a Human"

• The Liar (1981) • The Worthless (1982) • Huhtikuu on kuukausista julmin (1983) • Apinan vuosi (1983) • Viimeiset rotanrahat (1985) • Calamari Union (1985) • Ylösnousemus (1985) • Shadows in Paradise (1986) • Rocky VI (1986) • I Hired a Contract Killer (1990) • Shit Happens (1992) • Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994) • Iron Horsemen (1994) • Mustasilmä-Susanna ja lepakkoluolan aarre (1996) • Aaltra (2004) • Vandaleyne (2015)

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer — Editor — Notes • 1983 — The Worthless • Crime and Punishment • 1984 — The Clan - Tale of the Frogs • 1985 — Calamari Union — Also composer • Rosso • 1986 — Shadows in Paradise • 1987 — The Final Arrangement • Hamlet Goes Business • 1988 — Ariel • 1989 — Dirty Hands — TV film • Leningrad Cowboys Go America • 1990 — The Match Factory Girl • I Hired a Contract Killer • 1992 — La Vie de Bohème • 1994 — Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana • Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses • 1996 — Drifting Clouds • 1999 — Juha • 2002 — The Man Without a Past • 2006 — Lights in the Dusk • 2011 — Le Havre • 2017 — The Other Side of Hope • 2023 — Fallen Leaves

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer — Editor — Notes • 1981 — The Liar — Medium-length film • 1982 — The Liar 2 • 1986 — Rocky VI • 1992 — Shit Happens • 1996 — Employment Agent • 2002 — Dogs Have No Hell — Included in the anthology film Ten Minutes Older - The Trumpet • 2004 — Bico — Included in the anthology film Visions of Europe • 2006 — The Foundry — Included in the anthology film To Each His Own Cinema • 2012 — Tavern Man — Included in the anthology film Centro Histórico

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 as a director, although the retirement was short-lived as he began filming another film, Fallen Leaves, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Kaurismäki became the second director, after Paul Thomas Anderson, to win his third FIPRESCI Grand Prix.

Cannes Jury Prize 2023 Fallen Leaves Silver Bear 2017 The Other Side of Hope Cannes Grand Prix 2002 The Man Without a Past Cannes Ecumenical Jury Special Mention 1996 Drifting Clouds Cannes Prize of the Ecumenical Jury 2002 The Man Without a Past FIPRESCI Award 2011 Le Havre FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2002 The Man Without a Past 2017 The Other Side of Hope 2023 Fallen Leaves Jussi for Best Film 2006 Lights in the Dusk Jussi for Best Debut Film 1983 Crime and Punishment Jussi for Best Script 1983 Crime and Punishment 1996 Drifting Clouds 2002 The Man Without a Past 2011 Le Havre Jussi for Best Direction 1990 The Match Factory Girl 1992 La vie de bohème 1996 Drifting Clouds 2002 The Man Without a Past São Paulo Audience Award for Best Feature 1996 Drifting Clouds