Aki Kaurismäki

Jean-Pierre Léaud: The Child of Cinema (2024)

A portrait of the legendary actor Jean-Pierre Léaud, icon of the French New Wave and closely linked to the work of François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Goddard. ...

Fallen Leaves (2023)

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 Other Side of Hope (2017)

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

John From (2016)

Rita is fifteen and spends the summer between warm afternoons of teenage love and party nights with her friend Sara. From Portugal to the South Pacific, the pleasures of this routine will take a turn when the young girl visits the art show of a new neighbo ...

Dirty Hands (2015)

A political drama set in the fictional country of Illyria between 1943 and 1945, the story is about the assassination of a leading politician. The country, an ally of Nazi Germany, is on the verge of being annexed to the Eastern Bloc. Kaurismäki's TV ada ...

Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla (2013)

Juice Leskinen & Grand Slam live set recorded in 1988. ...

Historic Centre (2012)

Four voices and their visions of Guimarães, cradle city of the Portuguese nation and European Capital of Culture in 2012. ...

Tavern Man (2012)

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 g ...

Le Havre (2011)

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. ...

Barzakh (2011)

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 b ...

Bad Family (2010)

The story of an overly protective and controlling father who suspects incest is taking place between his own son and daughter. These growing suspicions and concerns cause the father to become delusional and unrelenting in his quest to end the love affair b ...

Jeanne d'Arc (2009)

A young woman recovering from a suicide attempt arrives in a war-torn city and gets a job as a waitress at a local bar. Jeanne befriends the author of an unpopular drunkard, but fate has other plans for their relationship . ...

Calamari Union (2008)

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

Helsinki, Forever (2008)

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 ...

To Each His Own Cinema (2007)

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 ...

Lights in the Dusk (2006)

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 ...

Whisky (2004)

When his long-lost brother resurfaces, Jacobo, desperate to prove his life has added up to something, looks to scrounge up a wife. He turns to Marta, an employee at his sock factory, with whom he has a prickly relationship. ...

Visions of Europe (2004)

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors. ...

Bico (2004)

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 cat ...

Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002)

Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films entitled The Trumpet and The Cello. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the Millennium. Fiftee ...

The Man Without a Past (2002)

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 ...

The Classic (2001)

A self-loving fictional autobiography of author Kari Hotakainen. ...

Belief, Hope and Blood (2000)

About the love of Lenin and the Finnish girl Mariot, from whom he had a child, who subsequently disappeared without a trace. ...

Juha (1999)

A farmer's wife is seduced into running away from her stolid older husband by a city slicker, who enslaves her in a brothel. ...

A Stone Left Unturned (1999)

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. ...

Vaiennut kylä (1997)

A criminal investigator arrives to investigate the murder of Annikki Niemi in a village whose residents remain silent about the killing. Local boss Onni Pukari and his shady associates try to prevent the investigator from finding the murderer. ...

Drifting Clouds (1996)

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 t ...

Iron Horsemen (1995)

Bad Trip, a biker who has been freshly inducted into a gang, flees from them after stealing one of their bikes. ...

Total Balalaika Show (1994)

A 57-minute documentary of a Helsinki concert featuring the Leningrad Cowboys and the Alexandrov Red Army Choir and Ballet, who collaborate on a number of US Rock songs sung in English (like "Sweet Home, Alabama") as well as more traditional Russian songs ...

Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994)

After years of fame and misfortune in Mexico, the members of the Leningrad Cowboys decide to return to their native village. Their former manager Vladimir, who now calls himself Moses lead them on their way home. ...

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana (1994)

Two Finnish men agree to drive an Estonian woman and a Russian woman to a harbor. ...

Our Father… (1993)

Juhani Haavisto returns to his childhood home from the seas and is confronted by his wheelchair-bound, demented father Eino and the traumas of sexual abuse and violence he experienced as a child. ...

Kaksi vanhaa varasta (1993)

For the past 20 years, a cleaner Anna has been living an honest life. She takes charge of the life of her alcoholic lover, a retiree Harri. Chased by the loan sharks, Harri has one more heist to pull off. Like two old thieves. ...

Ripa Hits the Skids (1993)

A week-long glimpse into the wretched existence of Ripa, a long-haired, hard-drinking lug. He is also a filmmaker-wannabee, whose last two projects were condemned for their sex and violence. A Parasite Deluxe, who barely recalls his previous night, Ripa cr ...

The Prodigal Son (1992)

Esa is a small time crook who has been precisely released from prison. He starts to make money by mugging people. One day psychiatrist Lindström rings Esa's doorbell. He has a very strange request: he wants Esa to maltreat him. Esa accepts this request, b ...

Shit Happens (1992)

The Parrot Man (1992)

Lonely Tuukka catches fish by the river and meets a mysterious old miller and former sailor, the Parrot Man, who teaches him the magic of the forest. ...

La Vie de Bohème (1992)

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. ...

I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)

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. ...

The Match Factory Girl (1990)

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 e ...

Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)

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. ...

Ariel (1988)

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

Hamlet Goes Business (1987)

When Hamlet discovers his father's deceased body, he finds himself pulled into a power struggle as his scheming uncle attempts to secure a monopoly on the Scandinavian rubber duck industry. Will Hamlet avenge his father? Will he become the king of rubber d ...

Tilinteko (1987)

Two men, Nieminen and Varjola, commit a mail van robbery. Varjola betrays his friend: shoots him and takes the loot. Nieminen is arrested, but he refuses to reveal his accomplice's name. On his first leave on prison Nieminen finds Varjola in a small town, ...

Macbeth (1987)

A Finnish film version of Macbeth. Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne ...

Shadows in Paradise (1986)

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 the ...

Kuningas lähtee Ranskaan (1986)

A new ice age is coming to England. All energy sources have been depleted and despair is taking over the earth. The young king decides to use his last trump card before his power collapses and anarchy reigns over the island kingdom. ...

Rocky VI (1986)

Not to be confused with any of the sequels to Sylvester Stallone's classic Oscar-winning Rocky, this short film from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki is actually meant as a parody of the late Cold War-era Rocky IV, which saw Stallone's character taking on ...

Morena (1986)

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. ...

Rosso (1985)

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. ...

Calamari Union (1985)

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 ...

The Clan: Tale of the Frogs (1984)

Young Alex Sammakko has seen his brothers defy the law in a series of deeds that first land them in jail, and then, after they escape and return to their rural home, land them back in the lap of their locally notorious family. Alex wants nothing to do with ...

Crime and Punishment (1983)

Former student Rahikainen is pushed to murder when struggling to pay the rent on his apartment. When the murder is being investigated by the police, Rahikainen struggles between trying to hide his guilt and the pressure to confess. ...

The Worthless (1982)

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 Par ...

Jackpot 2 (1982)

Three young people, two boys and a girl, meet on a Friday evening in an urban post-disaster setting which has brought Helsinki to ruins. The boys' sole purpose of life is to play a Flip-Flop pinball machine. ...

The Saimaa Gesture (1981)

A documentary film about a tour of three Finnish rock bands around Saimaa lake system in a steam boat in 1981. The bands (Juice Leskinen Slam, Eppu Normaali and Hassisen Kone) are shown playing songs in their gigs and, in between, the members give intimate ...

The Liar (1981)

Talkative, hyperactive young drifter Ville Alfa goes around Helsinki, basically trying to borrow money from friends and strangers by means of an incessant delivery of quirky and snappy quasi-intellectual lines and fabricated excuses. ...

Cinéma Laika (2023)

In the heart of the Finnish forest, the long-closed foundry of the little town of Karkkila has come back to life thanks to director Aki Kaurismäki and his creation of the town's first cinema. The peace and calm of the little town of Karkkila, nestled deep ...

The Dinosaur (2021)

Acclaimed Finnish director Rauni Mollberg made several scandalous yet widely appreciated films. Former co-worker Veikko Aaltonen's eye-opening documentary The Dinosaur looks at the relentless, often disturbing directing techniques behind Mollberg's art and ...

Aki and Peter (2018)

THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE is dedicated to filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki's longtime friend and collaborator, the film critic and festival programmer Peter von Bagh. In this new video essay, filmmaker Daniel Raim explores Kaurismäki's oeuvre through the world of v ...

Plankton Salesmen (2017)

A nostalgic look at the birth and death of arthouse film distribution in Russia in the early 2000s. The story of the company Cinema Without Borders and its two founders, Sam Klebanov and Anton Mazurov. ...

Peter von Bagh (2016)

Piirainen's documentary on the last years of Peter von Bagh. ...

Valokeilassa Atte Blom (2015)

TV document about the Finnish music producer Atte Blom. ...

Temples of Dreams (2015)

Documentary about Finnish film theaters - about their past, disappearance and future. And at the same time universal story how cinema is undeniably connected with life. ...

Il était une fois... Le Havre (2014)

A documentary about the making of Le Havre ...

A Special Day (2012)

At the 60th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival, 34 famous directors are followed by camera. ...

Bohemian Eyes (2011)

Documentary about the life of Finnish actor Matti Pellonpää. ...

Critic (2008)

Seventy critics and filmmakers discuss cinema around the conflict between the artist and the observer, the creator and the critic. Between 1998 and 2007, Kléber Mendonça Filho recorded testimonies about this relationship in Brazil, the United States and ...

Aaltra (2004)

In this pitch black comedy the rivalry between two neighbors escalates into an all out war. Through a maintenance error on a tractor they both end up, paralyzed, in a wheelchair. It seems they are doomed to stay together. They no longer focus their rage on ...

Aki Kaurismäki (2001)

Aki Kaurismäki, the celebrated Finnish filmmaker behind The Man Without a Past (Grand Prix du Jury, Cannes Film Festival 2002) and landmark works including Ariel, Leningrad Cowboys Go America, and Drifting Clouds, is the focus of AKI KAURISMÄKI, the late ...

I Am Curious, Film (1995)

The Scandinavian entry in the BFI's Century of Cinema series of documentaries ...

Iron Horsemen (1995)

Bad Trip, a biker who has been freshly inducted into a gang, flees from them after stealing one of their bikes. ...

Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994)

After years of fame and misfortune in Mexico, the members of the Leningrad Cowboys decide to return to their native village. Their former manager Vladimir, who now calls himself Moses lead them on their way home. ...

Talking with Ozu (1993)

A tribute to the legendary Japanese film director featuring the reflections of filmmakers Lindsay Anderson, Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Aki Kaurismäki, Stanley Kwan, Paul Schrader, and Wim Wenders ...

Where Is Musette? (1992)

Documentary filmed on-set during the making of Aki Kaurismaki's "La vie de Boheme" ...

Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: Aki Kaurismäki (1991)

Jonathan Ross interviews the inscrutable Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki at The Midnight Sun Film Festival during the release of 'The Match Factory Girl' along with comments from friends, colleagues and fans including highlights from his previous fil ...

I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)

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. ...

Shadows in Paradise (1986)

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 the ...

Rocky VI (1986)

Not to be confused with any of the sequels to Sylvester Stallone's classic Oscar-winning Rocky, this short film from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki is actually meant as a parody of the late Cold War-era Rocky IV, which saw Stallone's character taking on ...

Ylösnousemus (1985)

A man fakes his own suicide in order to see how his close ones react. ...

Calamari Union (1985)

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 ...

Viimeiset rotannahat (1985)

Anssi Mänttäri's low-budget movies with their intimate content have become classics. In this black comedy that takes place in Helsinki in summer the main character (played by Mänttäri himself) jumps from one bar and bed to the next. Especially vulgar b ...

Huhtikuu on kuukausista julmin (1983)

April is the Cruelest of Months is a 1983 film directed by Suvi-Marja Korvenheimo, also known as Anssi Mänttäri, and the final part of the Korvenheimo trilogy. It was named after the first verse of T. S. Eliot's poem series The Waste Land. The film, shot ...

The Worthless (1982)

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 Par ...

Jackpot 2 (1982)

Three young people, two boys and a girl, meet on a Friday evening in an urban post-disaster setting which has brought Helsinki to ruins. The boys' sole purpose of life is to play a Flip-Flop pinball machine. ...

The Saimaa Gesture (1981)

A documentary film about a tour of three Finnish rock bands around Saimaa lake system in a steam boat in 1981. The bands (Juice Leskinen Slam, Eppu Normaali and Hassisen Kone) are shown playing songs in their gigs and, in between, the members give intimate ...

The Liar (1981)

Talkative, hyperactive young drifter Ville Alfa goes around Helsinki, basically trying to borrow money from friends and strangers by means of an incessant delivery of quirky and snappy quasi-intellectual lines and fabricated excuses. ...