Cast & creator
Aki Kaurismäki
Best known for Fallen Leaves, Fallen Leaves, Fallen Leaves
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.
Also known as: Aki Olavi Kaurismäki
180
film credits
0
television credits
33
1981–2024 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (180)
Showing 180 of 180 credits
Fallen Leaves
Director
2023Fallen Leaves
Writer
2023Fallen Leaves
Producer
2023
Le Havre
Director
2011Le Havre
Writer
2011Le Havre
Producer
2011
To Each His Own Cinema
Director
2007To Each His Own Cinema
Producer
2007To Each His Own Cinema
Writer
2007
The Other Side of Hope
Director
2017The Other Side of Hope
Producer
2017The Other Side of Hope
Writer
2017
The Match Factory Girl
Director
1990The Match Factory Girl
Editor
1990The Match Factory Girl
Producer
1990The Match Factory Girl
Writer
1990
Ariel
Director
1988Ariel
Writer
1988Ariel
Producer
1988
La Vie de Bohème
Director
1992La Vie de Bohème
Producer
1992La Vie de Bohème
Screenplay
1992
Plankton Salesmen
Self (archive footage)
2017
Shadows in Paradise
Hotel Receptionist (uncredited)
1986Shadows in Paradise
Director
1986Shadows in Paradise
Writer
1986
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Screenplay
1989Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Director
1989Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Story
1989Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Producer
1989
The Man Without a Past
Producer
2002The Man Without a Past
Director
2002The Man Without a Past
Writer
2002
Lights in the Dusk
Editor
2006Lights in the Dusk
Director
2006Lights in the Dusk
Producer
2006Lights in the Dusk
Writer
2006
I Hired a Contract Killer
Sunglasses Seller (uncredited)
1990I Hired a Contract Killer
Producer
1990I Hired a Contract Killer
Editor
1990I Hired a Contract Killer
Director
1990I Hired a Contract Killer
Screenplay
1990I Hired a Contract Killer
Story
1990
Temples of Dreams
Self
2015
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
Director
2002Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
Writer
2002Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
Producer
2002Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
Editor
2002
VÄNÄ
2000
Drifting Clouds
Producer
1996Drifting Clouds
Director
1996Drifting Clouds
Editor
1996Drifting Clouds
Writer
1996
The Dinosaur
Self
2021
Calamari Union
Hearse Driver (uncredited)
1985Calamari Union
Writer
1985Calamari Union
Director
1985Calamari Union
Producer
1985Calamari Union
Editor
1985
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Factory Worker Imitating Chaplin (uncredited)
1994Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Director
1994Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Editor
1994Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Producer
1994Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Story
1994Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Screenplay
1994
Visions of Europe
Director
2004Visions of Europe
Writer
2004Visions of Europe
Producer
2004Visions of Europe
Editor
2004
Helsinki, Forever
Thanks
2008
Rosso
Dialogue
1985Rosso
Gaffer
1985
Dirty Hands
Director
2015Dirty Hands
Writer
2015
Bad Family
Producer
2010
Jean-Pierre Léaud: The Child of Cinema
Thanks
2024
Aaltra
Aaltra's Boss
2004
A Special Day
Self
2012
A Stone Left Unturned
Producer
2000The Parrot Man
Editor
1992
I Am Curious, Film
Self
1995
Morena
Production Sound Mixer
1986
Crime and Punishment
Director
1983Crime and Punishment
Screenplay
1983
The Worthless
Ville Alfa
1982The Worthless
Production Design
1982The Worthless
Dialogue
1982The Worthless
Assistant Director
1982The Worthless
Writer
1982
Huhtikuu on kuukausista julmin
Ville Alfa
1983
The Clan: Tale of the Frogs
Screenplay
1984The Clan: Tale of the Frogs
Assistant Director
1984
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: Aki Kaurismäki
Self
1991
Critic
Self
2008
Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana
Director
1994Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana
Writer
1994Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana
Editor
1994Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana
Producer
1994
Bico
Director
2004Bico
Writer
2004Bico
Producer
2004
Shit Happens
Estonian
1992Shit Happens
Producer
1992Shit Happens
Editor
1992
Hamlet Goes Business
Producer
1987Hamlet Goes Business
Screenplay
1987Hamlet Goes Business
Director
1987
Bohemian Eyes
Self
2011
Aki Kaurismäki
Self
2001
Juha
Director
1999Juha
Screenplay
1999Juha
Producer
1999Juha
Editor
1999
Barzakh
Producer
2011
Whisky
Thanks
2004
Where Is Musette?
Self
1992
Ripa Hits the Skids
Producer
1993
Tavern Man
Producer
2012Tavern Man
Director
2012Tavern Man
Editor
2012Tavern Man
Writer
2012
Il était une fois... Le Havre
himself
2014
Our Father…
Producer
1993
Jackpot 2
1982Jackpot 2
Costume Design
1982Jackpot 2
Assistant Director
1982Jackpot 2
Smoke Artist
1982Jackpot 2
Production Design
1982Jackpot 2
Writer
1982
Dogs Have No Hell
Director
2002Dogs Have No Hell
Writer
2002Dogs Have No Hell
Editor
2002Dogs Have No Hell
Producer
2002
Calamari Union
Writer
2008
Iron Horsemen
Cadillac Man
1995Iron Horsemen
Producer
1995Iron Horsemen
Assistant Director
1995
Cinéma Laika
Self
2023
The Foundry
Director
2007The Foundry
Writer
2007The Foundry
Editor
2007
Léaud l'unique
Self - filmmaker
2001
John From
Thanks
2016
Aki and Peter
Himself
2018
Talking with Ozu
Self
1993
Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla
Director
2013Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla
Writer
2013
Jeanne d'Arc
Producer
2009Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla
Producer
2013
Valokeilassa Atte Blom
Self
2015
Rocky VI
Magazine Photographer
1986Rocky VI
Director
1986Rocky VI
Writer
1986Rocky VI
Producer
1986Rocky VI
Editor
1986Belief, Hope and Blood
Producer
2000
The Prodigal Son
Producer
1992
The Classic
Producer
2001
Macbeth
Producer
1987
Total Balalaika Show
Director
1994Total Balalaika Show
Writer
1994Total Balalaika Show
Producer
1994
Kuningas lähtee Ranskaan
Gaffer
1986
Viimeiset rotannahat
1985Peter von Bagh
Self
2016
Tilinteko
Writer
1987Tilinteko
Producer
1987
The Saimaa Gesture
Self - Interviewer (uncredited)
1981The Saimaa Gesture
Producer
1981The Saimaa Gesture
Director
1981The Saimaa Gesture
Writer
1981
Ylösnousemus
Taksikuski
1985
Vaiennut kylä
Producer
1997
The Liar
Ville Alfa
1981The Liar
Writer
1981Kaksi vanhaa varasta
Producer
1993
Historic Centre
Director
2012Historic Centre
Screenplay
2012Historic Centre
Producer
2012Historic Centre
Editor
2012