Exclusive: Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki has achieved his best global box office in a decade with Cannes Jury Prize winner Fallen Leaves which has racked up a total gross of $12.4M, according to figures released by its producers.
This is the director’s second highest box office result behind 2011 drama Le Havre.
The Helsinki-set love story, about the difficult coming together of two lost souls, has grossed $3.6M at home which is the biggest box office performance for a local film in Finland ever.
Acquired by Mubi for North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Latin America following its Cannes Competition premiere, the film has also performed well in these territories.
After a buzzy North American festival career playing at Telluride, Toronto, and New York, the movie opened in the U.S. on November 17.
The title has since grossed over $850,000 in the US and Canada, become Kaurismäki’s second highest...
This is the director’s second highest box office result behind 2011 drama Le Havre.
The Helsinki-set love story, about the difficult coming together of two lost souls, has grossed $3.6M at home which is the biggest box office performance for a local film in Finland ever.
Acquired by Mubi for North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Latin America following its Cannes Competition premiere, the film has also performed well in these territories.
After a buzzy North American festival career playing at Telluride, Toronto, and New York, the movie opened in the U.S. on November 17.
The title has since grossed over $850,000 in the US and Canada, become Kaurismäki’s second highest...
- 1/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Blackpink: A VR Encore: Here’s Everything You Need To Know!(Photo Credit –Instagram)
Blackpink recently gave Blinks the surprise of their lives, renewing their contracts with their agency, Yg Entertainment. Since Jisoo, Lisa, Jennie, and Rose aren’t going anywhere, fans can expect entertainment to roll, and in the same vein, a Blackpink virtual concert film, titled Blackpink: A VR Encore, is coming soon. The VR concert film has been produced and directed by Diamond Bros. in partnership with Meta.
The South Korean girl group is giving a virtual touch to their Born Pink World Tour with Blackpink: A VR Encore. The recently-released trailer for the virtual concert aptly describes the global tour finale performance of the K-pop group in Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, which was a star-studded event with the biggest K-pop and K-drama stars gathering to witness the Blackpink magic in their area.
The greatest hits...
Blackpink recently gave Blinks the surprise of their lives, renewing their contracts with their agency, Yg Entertainment. Since Jisoo, Lisa, Jennie, and Rose aren’t going anywhere, fans can expect entertainment to roll, and in the same vein, a Blackpink virtual concert film, titled Blackpink: A VR Encore, is coming soon. The VR concert film has been produced and directed by Diamond Bros. in partnership with Meta.
The South Korean girl group is giving a virtual touch to their Born Pink World Tour with Blackpink: A VR Encore. The recently-released trailer for the virtual concert aptly describes the global tour finale performance of the K-pop group in Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, which was a star-studded event with the biggest K-pop and K-drama stars gathering to witness the Blackpink magic in their area.
The greatest hits...
- 12/20/2023
- by Shivani Negi
- KoiMoi
Emerald Fennell’s dark comedy Saltburn takes a massive jump from to over 1,500 screens today as Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Hayao Miyazaki’s latest The Boy and the Heron, animated They Shot The Piano Player and other festival favorites launch awards season runs this Thanksgiving specialty weekend.
Apple, opening Napoleon wide with Sony, is also planting a flag for evergreen status for last year’s holiday romp Spirited, a musical retelling of A Christmas Carol with singing, dancing Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.
Maestro, presented by Netflix, raises the baton in ten locations including New York and LA today and plans to add more theaters weekly. The anticipated Venice-premiering film – see Deadline review — was directed by and stars Bradley Cooper as the iconic conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, with Carey Mulligan as his wife of 25 years, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Cooper is also a co-writer and producer alongside Martin Scorsese,...
Apple, opening Napoleon wide with Sony, is also planting a flag for evergreen status for last year’s holiday romp Spirited, a musical retelling of A Christmas Carol with singing, dancing Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.
Maestro, presented by Netflix, raises the baton in ten locations including New York and LA today and plans to add more theaters weekly. The anticipated Venice-premiering film – see Deadline review — was directed by and stars Bradley Cooper as the iconic conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, with Carey Mulligan as his wife of 25 years, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Cooper is also a co-writer and producer alongside Martin Scorsese,...
- 11/22/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
If you’re vibing with Aki Kaurismäki‘s droll wavelength of dry comedies about ordinary people in Helsinki, “Fallen Leaves” is definitely for you. This warm and witty romantic comedy about two lost souls adrift, who eventually find each other on the existential carousel to nowhere, won a Jury Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival (where Ruben Östlund served as Jury President) and now represents Finland in the 2024 Best International Feature Film Oscar race. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for this Mubi release below on the heels of its New York Film Festival premiere.
The latest film from the Finnish director of “The Man Without a Past” and “Le Havre” tells the story of two lonely people. Ansa (whose name literally means “trapped” in Finnish and who is played wonderfully by Alma Pöysti) and Holappa, in between soul-numbing blue-collar jobs, meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and maybe discover the first,...
The latest film from the Finnish director of “The Man Without a Past” and “Le Havre” tells the story of two lonely people. Ansa (whose name literally means “trapped” in Finnish and who is played wonderfully by Alma Pöysti) and Holappa, in between soul-numbing blue-collar jobs, meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and maybe discover the first,...
- 10/12/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Welcome to Kino Laika: Aki Kaurismäki and Mika Lätti’s cinema in Karkkila, an hour away from Helsinki. A place where love for movies – and dogs – meets ghosts of cinema’s past.
“One time, I had a 35mm copy of the Lumière brothers’ film ‘Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat.’ I lent it to some cinema and it never came back. And now, I have forgotten which cinema it was,” recalls Kaurismäki, who, like Lätti, has been a resident of Karkkila, a modest town of 9,000, for decades now.
“I have lived here for 38 years and I like it a lot, but we never had a cinema here before. To see movies, local people had to travel to the next town or even Helsinki. Not anymore. It’s wonderful to offer them this chance,” he adds.
“Karkkila has been a good place for us both and we wanted to give something back to this town.
“One time, I had a 35mm copy of the Lumière brothers’ film ‘Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat.’ I lent it to some cinema and it never came back. And now, I have forgotten which cinema it was,” recalls Kaurismäki, who, like Lätti, has been a resident of Karkkila, a modest town of 9,000, for decades now.
“I have lived here for 38 years and I like it a lot, but we never had a cinema here before. To see movies, local people had to travel to the next town or even Helsinki. Not anymore. It’s wonderful to offer them this chance,” he adds.
“Karkkila has been a good place for us both and we wanted to give something back to this town.
- 9/20/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Kaurismäki was previously nominated in 2002 for The Man Without A Past.
Finland has selected Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves as its official entry for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
The comedy drama world premiered at Cannes where it topped Screen’s jury grid and picked up the festival’s jury prize.
It recently won the 2023 Grand Prix, voted on by members of the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci), and will screen at San Sebastian International Film Festival where it receives the award.
Fallen Leaves is produced by Sputnik Oy and Bufo and co-produced by Pandora Film.
Finland has selected Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves as its official entry for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
The comedy drama world premiered at Cannes where it topped Screen’s jury grid and picked up the festival’s jury prize.
It recently won the 2023 Grand Prix, voted on by members of the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci), and will screen at San Sebastian International Film Festival where it receives the award.
Fallen Leaves is produced by Sputnik Oy and Bufo and co-produced by Pandora Film.
- 9/13/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Fallen Leaves, Aki Kaurismäki’s first film since 2017’s The Other Side of Hope, took home the Jury Prize from this year’s Cannes while charming critics more than just about anything else in competition. His “gentle tragicomedy” marks the fourth part of a working-class series, following Shadows in Paradise, Ariel, and The Match Factory Girl, bearing influence from Ozu, Bresson, and Chaplin.
Ahead of a fall-festival run and November 17 theatrical release, Mubi have unveiled a brief but lovely teaser that confirms Rory O’Connor’s Cannes diagnosis of “a charming, moving, bittersweet romance packed with all the lovely things we’ve come to associate with him after four decades.” As he continued, “The locations and colors still come in admirable shades of mustard and pea soup––as do the characters and their moods. As a film, Fallen Leaves could hardly be simpler––two people living separate, lonesome lives meet and...
Ahead of a fall-festival run and November 17 theatrical release, Mubi have unveiled a brief but lovely teaser that confirms Rory O’Connor’s Cannes diagnosis of “a charming, moving, bittersweet romance packed with all the lovely things we’ve come to associate with him after four decades.” As he continued, “The locations and colors still come in admirable shades of mustard and pea soup––as do the characters and their moods. As a film, Fallen Leaves could hardly be simpler––two people living separate, lonesome lives meet and...
- 8/30/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Nobody can see everything that screens in competition at the Cannes Film Festival — there were 21 titles in the mix this year — and I certainly didn’t. So, without passing judgment on all of the titles that were recognized with prizes on Saturday, I must say that I am struck by the fact that all five of the eligible English-language titles — Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Black Flies, Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand, Todd Haynes’s May December and Ken Loach’s The Old Oak — were completely passed over by the jury.
Needless to say, it is not the mandate of the Cannes jury — which this year included the likes of Paul Dano, Brie Larson and recent Palme d’Or winners Ruben Östlund (2017’s The Square and 2022’s Triangle of Sadness) and 2021’s Julia Ducournau (Titane) — to try to presage the Oscar race. But it is still noteworthy, to me,...
Needless to say, it is not the mandate of the Cannes jury — which this year included the likes of Paul Dano, Brie Larson and recent Palme d’Or winners Ruben Östlund (2017’s The Square and 2022’s Triangle of Sadness) and 2021’s Julia Ducournau (Titane) — to try to presage the Oscar race. But it is still noteworthy, to me,...
- 5/27/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In 2006, Aki Kaurismäki was asked what he felt young filmmakers lacked. His response was almost Cartesian: “Humility,” the director suggested, “Above all, it is necessary to forget oneself.” The Finnish auteur returns with Fallen Leaves, a charming, moving, bittersweet romance packed with all the lovely things we’ve come to associate with him after four decades. The locations and colors still come in admirable shades of mustard and pea soup––as do the characters and their moods. As a film, Fallen Leaves could hardly be simpler––two people living separate, lonesome lives meet and maybe fall in love––but there is beauty in that simplicity and, as ever, Kaurismäki’s characters live far richer inner lives.
Few filmmakers warm the soul with such economy: Fallen Leaves is funny, heartbreaking, and only 82 minutes long. Alma Pöysti stars as Ansa, a supermarket worker who loses her job when she’s caught pocketing an expired sandwich.
Few filmmakers warm the soul with such economy: Fallen Leaves is funny, heartbreaking, and only 82 minutes long. Alma Pöysti stars as Ansa, a supermarket worker who loses her job when she’s caught pocketing an expired sandwich.
- 5/25/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Mubi is having a busy Cannes. The arthouse streamer just picked up Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes competition title Fallen Leaves, its fourth acquisition of the festival, taking the crowd-pleasing dramedy for North America, the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, and Turkey after its official festival premiere.
Mubi plans to do a theatrical release for the film in some territories. The deal for Fallen Leaves was done with Mubi’s own sales subsidiary, The Match Factory, who handles all of Kaurismäki’s movies.
Fallen Leaves is the 20th film from the Finnish filmmaker, who won the 2002 Grand Jury prize, and picked up a 2003 Oscar nomination for The Man Without a Past, and took the FiPRESCI international film critics’ prize in 2011 for Le Havre.
The deal for Fallen Leaves follows a buying spree for Mubi on the Croisette this year. The company snatched up Felipe Gálvez’s Chilean revisionist Western The Settlers...
Mubi plans to do a theatrical release for the film in some territories. The deal for Fallen Leaves was done with Mubi’s own sales subsidiary, The Match Factory, who handles all of Kaurismäki’s movies.
Fallen Leaves is the 20th film from the Finnish filmmaker, who won the 2002 Grand Jury prize, and picked up a 2003 Oscar nomination for The Man Without a Past, and took the FiPRESCI international film critics’ prize in 2011 for Le Havre.
The deal for Fallen Leaves follows a buying spree for Mubi on the Croisette this year. The company snatched up Felipe Gálvez’s Chilean revisionist Western The Settlers...
- 5/24/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Following Drifting Clouds (1996), The Man Without a Past (2002), Lights in the Dusk (2006), and 2011’s Le Havre, Finland’s favorite auteur Aki Kaurismäki returns to Cannes comp section with his fifth feature Fallen Leaves.
Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen topline a film that includes some old retro movie posters, booze, karaoke and essentially are two lonely people who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and try to find the first love of their lives.
Current temp: An apple pie type of film – always filling, you know what you get and zero complaints, the press screening for the Fallen Leaves put a lot of smiles on people’s faces and generous laughs from most.…...
Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen topline a film that includes some old retro movie posters, booze, karaoke and essentially are two lonely people who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and try to find the first love of their lives.
Current temp: An apple pie type of film – always filling, you know what you get and zero complaints, the press screening for the Fallen Leaves put a lot of smiles on people’s faces and generous laughs from most.…...
- 5/24/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
“It felt like this bloody world needed some love stories now,” Fallen Leaves director Aki Kaurismäki said of his Palme d’Or contender this afternoon.
With war still raging in Ukraine, the Finnish auteur, who does not mince his words, focused several times on themes of love as an antidote to global conflict.
The movie features clips of the Ukraine War in radio broadcasts and Kaurismäki said he “couldn’t have done any film during the war without commenting somehow, so I commented with radio.”
“It felt like this bloody world needed some love stories now, but it doesn’t matter what we do in Finland,” he added.
Documenting the war in his movie was important so people can “watch it and understand how cruel and stupid” the conflict was years down the line, he added. In a similar vein, Kaurismäki pointed to his inclusion of the Tiananmen Square massacre...
With war still raging in Ukraine, the Finnish auteur, who does not mince his words, focused several times on themes of love as an antidote to global conflict.
The movie features clips of the Ukraine War in radio broadcasts and Kaurismäki said he “couldn’t have done any film during the war without commenting somehow, so I commented with radio.”
“It felt like this bloody world needed some love stories now, but it doesn’t matter what we do in Finland,” he added.
Documenting the war in his movie was important so people can “watch it and understand how cruel and stupid” the conflict was years down the line, he added. In a similar vein, Kaurismäki pointed to his inclusion of the Tiananmen Square massacre...
- 5/23/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The very first winner of the Palme d’Or in 1955 was future Best Picture Oscar winner Marty, which starred Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair as two lonely middle-age adults beginning a tentative relationship in search of love. Before it was called the Palme d’Or, the top Cannes prize known then as the Grand Prix, went in 1946 at the festival’s beginning to David Lean’s Brief Encounter, also the story of two adults who meet by chance and get together.
Both of those Cannes Classics have something inherently in common with Aki Kaurismaki’s wonderful, wryly funny, and poignant new film, Fallen Leaves, which premiered today at Cannes, the latest Competition entry for the master Finnish filmmaker who was last in the run for the Palme d’Or with 2011’s equally great Le Havre. Despite several Eumenical prizes at the fest over the years, Kaurismaki only came close to...
Both of those Cannes Classics have something inherently in common with Aki Kaurismaki’s wonderful, wryly funny, and poignant new film, Fallen Leaves, which premiered today at Cannes, the latest Competition entry for the master Finnish filmmaker who was last in the run for the Palme d’Or with 2011’s equally great Le Havre. Despite several Eumenical prizes at the fest over the years, Kaurismaki only came close to...
- 5/22/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The lineup for the 76th installment of the Cannes Film Festival has finally been announced. Nineteen films will be competing to take home the prestigious Palme d’Or, including a record six films helmed by women. The festival will be taking place in the French Riviera from May 16 to May 27. This year’s jury will be headed by Ruben Östlund, who won his second Palme d’Or last year for “Triangle of Sadness.”
Knowing a filmmaker’s previous track record at Cannes can sometimes help give an idea as to who might be in the best position to claim the Palme. For instance, five of this year’s entries come from directors who have previously won the Palme. Another five are from auteurs who have had previous films win a prize in the main competition other than the Palme. Another five are from directors having their first film screen in the main competition.
Knowing a filmmaker’s previous track record at Cannes can sometimes help give an idea as to who might be in the best position to claim the Palme. For instance, five of this year’s entries come from directors who have previously won the Palme. Another five are from auteurs who have had previous films win a prize in the main competition other than the Palme. Another five are from directors having their first film screen in the main competition.
- 4/17/2023
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
A tribute to the Nordic film industry’s resilience, four Nordic titles have made it through to Cannes’ Official Selection. And unlike previous years, when Denmark or Sweden (Rüben Östlund) drew most of the worldwide attention, audiences should watch out for new and established voices from Norway, Finland and Iceland.
“Compartment No. 6”
Juho Kuosmanen’s sophomore feature marks Finland’s return to competition after a decade away (the previous Finnish film in competition was Aki Kaurismäki’s “Le Havre”). The Finnish director won Un Certain Regard back in 2016 with his black-and- white debut, “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki.” The story of a young Finnish student and a misanthropic Russian miner who share a journey along the Soviet Union’s trans-Siberian railway in the late 1980s, “Compartment No. 6” stars Seidi Haarla, one of the Berlinale’s 10 Shooting Stars.
“The Gravedigger’s Wife”
Finland makes history this year...
“Compartment No. 6”
Juho Kuosmanen’s sophomore feature marks Finland’s return to competition after a decade away (the previous Finnish film in competition was Aki Kaurismäki’s “Le Havre”). The Finnish director won Un Certain Regard back in 2016 with his black-and- white debut, “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki.” The story of a young Finnish student and a misanthropic Russian miner who share a journey along the Soviet Union’s trans-Siberian railway in the late 1980s, “Compartment No. 6” stars Seidi Haarla, one of the Berlinale’s 10 Shooting Stars.
“The Gravedigger’s Wife”
Finland makes history this year...
- 7/9/2021
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
How to be a Human: Three Films by Aki Kaurismäki is showing September 18 - October 9, 2020 on Mubi in the United Kingdom.Above: The Other Side of Hope.As Finland’s most successful cinematic export, Aki Kaurismäki is a one-man studio system and potentially a genre unto himself. An auteur in the truest sense, Kaurismäki exercises almost complete control over all elements of his work: from designing his own sets to a distinctly pared-down and deadpan approach to dialogue, along with command over the production and distribution of his films. While Kaurismäki’s films are in many ways innately Finnish, the cinematic worlds which he has created are distinctly his own and could take place anywhere. “Kaurismäki-land” is a land governed by its own rules, a parallel universe that overlaps with our own. The citizens of Kaurismäki-land are mostly working-class romantics and dreamers. Prone to depression, they drink and smoke their...
- 10/5/2020
- MUBI
“Evil will hunt us if we don’t throw it out from us with open palms,” a disembodied voice declares to us in French at the start of “Irradiated,” Rithy Panh’s mesmerizingly bleak montage of war in the 20th century. “At the top of the sky is pain. It always comes as a surprise.” And so the great onslaught begins as the bombs rain down from the heavens and the image cracks into three perfect squares that stretch across the screen in a narrow sliver of light; together they create an anamorphic slot machine of needless suffering.
More often than not, each column shows the same snippet of archival footage, as Nazi rallies bleed into the Khmer Rouge before napalm glazes the treetops of Vietnam. Sometimes, however, the square in the center is out of sync with the two on either side; shots of a bombed out church frame...
More often than not, each column shows the same snippet of archival footage, as Nazi rallies bleed into the Khmer Rouge before napalm glazes the treetops of Vietnam. Sometimes, however, the square in the center is out of sync with the two on either side; shots of a bombed out church frame...
- 2/28/2020
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The festival, held in the French Alps, will have a timely ecological angle for the first time.
The Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 11th edition, which will unfold in the French Alps Dec 14-21, with a timely ecological angle for the first time.
Artistic director Frédéric Boyer has selected 120 films, which will play across six sections, including the Competition, Playtime, Hauteur and Avant-Premieres sidebars. Some 22,000 public and professional attendees are expected to attend in line with 2018.
Dutch actor-turned-director Halina Reijn’s psychological thriller Instinct, Fyzal Boulifa’s UK tragic female friendship tale Lynn + Lucy and...
The Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 11th edition, which will unfold in the French Alps Dec 14-21, with a timely ecological angle for the first time.
Artistic director Frédéric Boyer has selected 120 films, which will play across six sections, including the Competition, Playtime, Hauteur and Avant-Premieres sidebars. Some 22,000 public and professional attendees are expected to attend in line with 2018.
Dutch actor-turned-director Halina Reijn’s psychological thriller Instinct, Fyzal Boulifa’s UK tragic female friendship tale Lynn + Lucy and...
- 11/5/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Netflix may get most of the attention, but it’s hardly a one-stop shop for cinephiles who are looking to stream essential classic and contemporary films. Each of the prominent streaming platforms — and there are more of them all the time — caters to its own niche of film obsessives.
From chilling horror fare on Shudder, to the boundless wonders of the Criterion Channel, and esoteric (but unmissable) festival hits on Film Movement Plus and Ovid.tv, IndieWire’s monthly guide will highlight the best of what’s coming to every major streaming site, with an eye towards exclusive titles that may help readers decide which of these services is right for them.
Here’s the best of the best for August 2019.
Amazon Prime
There are some big new movies coming to Amazon Prime this month, but most of these recent Hollywood titles will also be available to stream on Hulu and/or Netflix.
From chilling horror fare on Shudder, to the boundless wonders of the Criterion Channel, and esoteric (but unmissable) festival hits on Film Movement Plus and Ovid.tv, IndieWire’s monthly guide will highlight the best of what’s coming to every major streaming site, with an eye towards exclusive titles that may help readers decide which of these services is right for them.
Here’s the best of the best for August 2019.
Amazon Prime
There are some big new movies coming to Amazon Prime this month, but most of these recent Hollywood titles will also be available to stream on Hulu and/or Netflix.
- 8/9/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Both titles recorded an average of 2.5.
Corneliu Porumboiu’s The Whistlers and Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life are the latest titles to bed down on Screen’s Cannes 2019 jury grid, with both films receiving the same average of 2.5.
Porumboiu recorded consistent scores across his 10 marks, with four threes (good) and four twos (average) broken only by a four (excellent) from Meduza’s Anton Dolin and a one (poor) from Sight And Sound’s Nick James.
The Whistlers stars Vlad Ivanov as a corrupt cop who gets involved in a high-stakes heist, using the secret whistling language spoken on the Spanish island of La Gomera.
Corneliu Porumboiu’s The Whistlers and Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life are the latest titles to bed down on Screen’s Cannes 2019 jury grid, with both films receiving the same average of 2.5.
Porumboiu recorded consistent scores across his 10 marks, with four threes (good) and four twos (average) broken only by a four (excellent) from Meduza’s Anton Dolin and a one (poor) from Sight And Sound’s Nick James.
The Whistlers stars Vlad Ivanov as a corrupt cop who gets involved in a high-stakes heist, using the secret whistling language spoken on the Spanish island of La Gomera.
- 5/20/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Aki Kaurismäki. Photo courtesy of Janus Films.Watching an Aki Kaurismäki film can feel like dropping in on a world just out of step with our own. All the elements are there—the streets, the buildings, the people (and their docile dogs). But something is always off. A man’s desk is taken away while he’s still sitting at it to indicate he’s been laid off. A woman asks a pharmacist what rat poison does. “It kills,” the pharmacist says blankly. It’s as if the Finnish filmmaker is recreating a version of planet Earth with all the nuance removed. These highly orchestrated facsimiles should feel foreign, but their simplicity and dry humor instead allows for a familiarity to sink in. His universe is in fact far more relatable—and far more human—than meets the eye. Although he’s gained a reputation as a comically cynical auteur,...
- 3/29/2019
- MUBI
Anyone looking at Crown of Emara on a shelf would be forgiven for dismissing it instantly for one of the numerous, generic looking German euro/roundel style games that are released in their hundreds these days. The artwork is from Dennis Lohausen and whilst I haven’t seen his work in another game before, it has the distinct look of games like Marco Polo, Le Havre, Caverna and countless others. Dismissing it based on looks alone would be foolish, however, since Crown of Emara is one of my favourite roundel games to date, thanks to the way it juxtaposes the simplicity of play with the complexity of decision making efficiency.
I’ll explain in a moment why I find it such fun to play (and tell you a bit more about it) but before I do, let me also depose any myth I might have just created that Lohausen has created a boring looking game.
I’ll explain in a moment why I find it such fun to play (and tell you a bit more about it) but before I do, let me also depose any myth I might have just created that Lohausen has created a boring looking game.
- 2/28/2019
- by Matthew Smail
- Nerdly
Salt of Tears (Le Sel des larmes)
Showing no signs of slowing, French director Philippe Garrel commences work on his twenty-seventh feature film Salt of Tears (Le Sel des larmes), which is set to star Logann Antuofermo, Oulaya Amamra, Souheila Yacoub and André Wilms. The project is being produced by Rectangle and co-produced by Arte France Cinema. Garrel has long been one of France’s most innovative directors, ever since his experimental features and documentaries from the late 1960s through the 1970s, including his significant projects which starred Nico.…...
Showing no signs of slowing, French director Philippe Garrel commences work on his twenty-seventh feature film Salt of Tears (Le Sel des larmes), which is set to star Logann Antuofermo, Oulaya Amamra, Souheila Yacoub and André Wilms. The project is being produced by Rectangle and co-produced by Arte France Cinema. Garrel has long been one of France’s most innovative directors, ever since his experimental features and documentaries from the late 1960s through the 1970s, including his significant projects which starred Nico.…...
- 1/4/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
For his seventh feature, beloved American auteur Ira Sachs is taking his gig on the road. Sachs’ newest film, “A Family Vacation,” will start production this October in Portugal, and the “Love Is Strange” and “Little Men” filmmaker has lined up a cast of old favorites and new collaborators for the new drama. The film will star Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert, Jérémie Renier (“Saint Laurent,” “Summer Hours”), Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear, and André Wilms (Aki Kaurismaki’s “Le Havre” and “La Vie de Boheme”).
Billed as a family drama, and written by Sachs and his longtime co-writer Mauricio Zacharias (“Love is Strange,” “Little Men”), the feature is “about three generations of a family grappling with a life-changing experience during one day of a vacation in Sintra, Portugal, a historic town known for its dense gardens and fairy-tale villas and palaces.”
Sachs previously worked...
Billed as a family drama, and written by Sachs and his longtime co-writer Mauricio Zacharias (“Love is Strange,” “Little Men”), the feature is “about three generations of a family grappling with a life-changing experience during one day of a vacation in Sintra, Portugal, a historic town known for its dense gardens and fairy-tale villas and palaces.”
Sachs previously worked...
- 2/15/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Sometimes, the best things in life are worth waiting for. 2017 has seen the return of filmmakers like Lucrecia Martel after 9 years since her previous feature film, and while he may not have made a film as awe-inspiring or formally groundbreaking as the stunning Zama, six years is much too long to wait for yet another winner from director Aki Kaurismaki.
Over half a decade since his brilliant 2011 film Le Havre, Kaurismaki has returned with arguably his most formally inventive and politically driven film to date. Entitled The Other Side Of Hope, the director introduces viewers to the pair of Khaled and Wikstrom, two men who couldn’t have led more different lives. Sherwan Haji stars as Khaled, a man hailing from Aleppo who is seeking asylum in Helsinki. He encounters Sakari Kuosmanen’s Wikstrom, a salesman who goes from leaving his wife to ostensibly winning a restaurant in a card game.
Over half a decade since his brilliant 2011 film Le Havre, Kaurismaki has returned with arguably his most formally inventive and politically driven film to date. Entitled The Other Side Of Hope, the director introduces viewers to the pair of Khaled and Wikstrom, two men who couldn’t have led more different lives. Sherwan Haji stars as Khaled, a man hailing from Aleppo who is seeking asylum in Helsinki. He encounters Sakari Kuosmanen’s Wikstrom, a salesman who goes from leaving his wife to ostensibly winning a restaurant in a card game.
- 12/1/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
I find it odd that no major filmmakers are tacking the Syrian refugee crisis. An estimated five million people have fled the war torn country since 2012 and the number easily doubles when you add up internally displaced refugees. I find it doubly odd that it is Aki Kaurismaki, the Finnish master of deadpan comedy, taking on the topical subject. First it was his French-language film Le Havre, which dealt with immigration. With The Other Side of Hope, Kaurismaki lends a hand, with his light touch, on Aleppo, without sacrificing the seriousness of the situation. Surprisingly, the result is an affecting, optimistic look at human kindness and decency. It also turns out to be one of his finest films. There are two strands of narrative...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/30/2017
- Screen Anarchy
‘The Other Side of Hope’ U.S. Trailer: Aki Kaurismäki Brings His Unique Vision to the Refugee Crisis
We’ve seen a number of excellent documentaries capture the European refugee crisis, but when Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki decided to take it on narrative form for his first film since 2011’s Le Havre, we expected his unique vision to deliver something brilliant, and he’s done just that. After premiering at Berlin International Film Festival, The Other Side of Hope will now arrive soon and the first trailer has landed.
Starring Sakari Kuosmanen and Sherwan Haji, the story follows a poker-playing restauranteur and former traveling salesman who befriends a group of refugees newly arrived from Finland. “Hope is as contemporary and vital a film as you’re likely to find in 2017, but it’s also one of the funniest and most classically (not to mention beautifully) cinematic too. Shot on gorgeous 35mm by his enduring cinematographer Timo Salminen, it’s as cleverly detailed, as it is visually stunning and right from the very beginning,...
Starring Sakari Kuosmanen and Sherwan Haji, the story follows a poker-playing restauranteur and former traveling salesman who befriends a group of refugees newly arrived from Finland. “Hope is as contemporary and vital a film as you’re likely to find in 2017, but it’s also one of the funniest and most classically (not to mention beautifully) cinematic too. Shot on gorgeous 35mm by his enduring cinematographer Timo Salminen, it’s as cleverly detailed, as it is visually stunning and right from the very beginning,...
- 11/16/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Lauded Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki has developed something of a knack for taking timely, seemingly wrenching stories of human drama and turning them into timely, weirdly hilarious stories of human drama. His latest, the Berlinale premiere “The Other Side of Hope” — which earned him the Silver Bear for best director at this year’s festival — continues that same unique concept while also shining a bright light on the Syrian refugee crisis.
The film follows the unexpected friendship between asylum seeker Khaled (Sherwan Haji) and beleaguered traveling salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) as the pair come to find each other in Helsinki, two defeated men from very different places who are each struggling to fit into a new world.
Read More:‘The Other Side Of Hope’ Review: Aki Kaurismäki Returns With Another Deadpan Delight — Berlinale 2017
Per the film’s official synopsis, “with hilarious sight gags, poker-faced one liners [the film]…weaves together Kaurismäki’s...
The film follows the unexpected friendship between asylum seeker Khaled (Sherwan Haji) and beleaguered traveling salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) as the pair come to find each other in Helsinki, two defeated men from very different places who are each struggling to fit into a new world.
Read More:‘The Other Side Of Hope’ Review: Aki Kaurismäki Returns With Another Deadpan Delight — Berlinale 2017
Per the film’s official synopsis, “with hilarious sight gags, poker-faced one liners [the film]…weaves together Kaurismäki’s...
- 11/14/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The New York Film Festival kicks off later this week, sending us straight into the second half of a very busy fall festival season. In preparation for the festival, we’ve pinpointed its most exciting offerings, from never-before-seen narratives to insightful new documentaries, and plenty of previously-screened features looking to capitalize on strong word of mouth coming out of fellow tests like Venice, Telluride, and Toronto. In short, there’s plenty to experience in the coming weeks, so consider this your roadmap to the best of the fest.
Read More:Bryan Cranston Enters Oscar Race with New York Film Festival Opener ‘Last Flag Flying’
Ahead, 13 essential titles — from buzzy world premieres to highlights from the 2017 circuit— that we can’t wait to see at this year’s New York Film Festival.
“Arthur Miller: Writer”
Documentaries about family members are always a dubious proposition. Some can also come across as overindulgent exercises,...
Read More:Bryan Cranston Enters Oscar Race with New York Film Festival Opener ‘Last Flag Flying’
Ahead, 13 essential titles — from buzzy world premieres to highlights from the 2017 circuit— that we can’t wait to see at this year’s New York Film Festival.
“Arthur Miller: Writer”
Documentaries about family members are always a dubious proposition. Some can also come across as overindulgent exercises,...
- 9/27/2017
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson, David Ehrlich, Chris O'Falt, Jude Dry, Michael Nordine and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
It’s beginning to look a lot like fall festival season. On the heels of announcements from Tiff and Venice, the 55th edition of the New York Film Festival has unveiled its Main Slate, including a number of returning faces, emerging talents, and some of the most anticipated films from the festival circuit this year.
This year’s Main Slate showcases a number of films honored at Cannes including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner “The Square,” Robin Campillo’s “Bpm,” and Agnès Varda & Jr’s “Faces Places.” Other Cannes standouts, including “The Rider” and “The Florida Project,” will also screen at Nyff.
Read MoreTIFF Reveals First Slate of 2017 Titles, Including ‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘Downsizing,’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’
Elsewhere, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner “The Other Side of Hope” and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner “Spoor” come to Nyff after Berlin bows.
This year’s Main Slate showcases a number of films honored at Cannes including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner “The Square,” Robin Campillo’s “Bpm,” and Agnès Varda & Jr’s “Faces Places.” Other Cannes standouts, including “The Rider” and “The Florida Project,” will also screen at Nyff.
Read MoreTIFF Reveals First Slate of 2017 Titles, Including ‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘Downsizing,’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’
Elsewhere, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner “The Other Side of Hope” and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner “Spoor” come to Nyff after Berlin bows.
- 8/8/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Aki Kaurismaki’s latest set as festival opener.
Aki Kaurismaki’s The Other Side of Hope will open the 23rd Sarajevo Film Festival on August 11.
The Finnish director’s latest will screen at the National Theatre and the Raiffeisen Open Air Cinema in Sarajevo.
It premiered earlier this year in Berlin, where it won the festival’s Silver Bear award for best director.
Screen’s review claimed that “Kaurismaki fans will not want to miss this one”. It also topped Screen’s 2017 Berlin jury grid.
The Finnish-German production is the director’s first film in six years and follows Khaled, who flees to Finland from war-torn Syria and meets restaurateur Wikstrom, who has recently left his alcoholic wife.
The film is Kaurismaki’s 12th feature and is being touted as the thematic twin to his 2011 picture Le Havre, which opened the 17th Sarajevo Film Festival.
The stars of The Other Side of Hope, actors Simon Al-Boozen...
Aki Kaurismaki’s The Other Side of Hope will open the 23rd Sarajevo Film Festival on August 11.
The Finnish director’s latest will screen at the National Theatre and the Raiffeisen Open Air Cinema in Sarajevo.
It premiered earlier this year in Berlin, where it won the festival’s Silver Bear award for best director.
Screen’s review claimed that “Kaurismaki fans will not want to miss this one”. It also topped Screen’s 2017 Berlin jury grid.
The Finnish-German production is the director’s first film in six years and follows Khaled, who flees to Finland from war-torn Syria and meets restaurateur Wikstrom, who has recently left his alcoholic wife.
The film is Kaurismaki’s 12th feature and is being touted as the thematic twin to his 2011 picture Le Havre, which opened the 17th Sarajevo Film Festival.
The stars of The Other Side of Hope, actors Simon Al-Boozen...
- 7/27/2017
- ScreenDaily
A Syrian asylum seeker finds friendship with a hapless Finnish restaurateur in part two of Aki Kaurismäki’s migrant trilogy
The latest from Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki follows Syrian asylum seeker Khaled (Sherwan Haji) as he attempts to make a new life for himself in Helsinki. Emerging from a coal freighter covered in soot, Khaled maintains that crossing the border was easy, because “nobody wants to see me”.
The second in a loose trilogy that began with his 2011 film Le Havre, Kaurismäki’s wry comedy is a timely critique of an intolerant Europe, and a winking cheer to those who offer a handshake of solidarity to their new neighbours. One such individual is the cranky but generous Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen), who wins a poker game and buys a decrepit restaurant (the delightfully rubbish Golden Pint, a single painting of Jimi Hendrix adorning its otherwise bare walls) with his prize money.
The latest from Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki follows Syrian asylum seeker Khaled (Sherwan Haji) as he attempts to make a new life for himself in Helsinki. Emerging from a coal freighter covered in soot, Khaled maintains that crossing the border was easy, because “nobody wants to see me”.
The second in a loose trilogy that began with his 2011 film Le Havre, Kaurismäki’s wry comedy is a timely critique of an intolerant Europe, and a winking cheer to those who offer a handshake of solidarity to their new neighbours. One such individual is the cranky but generous Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen), who wins a poker game and buys a decrepit restaurant (the delightfully rubbish Golden Pint, a single painting of Jimi Hendrix adorning its otherwise bare walls) with his prize money.
- 5/28/2017
- by Simran Hans
- The Guardian - Film News
Aki Kaurismäki’s tale of a Syrian refugee who stows away to Finland mines the deadpan humour he’s famous for while refusing to flinch from heartbreak and hardship
The movies of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, with their deadpan drollery and aquarium light, have long been a habit-forming pleasure. But increasingly they are something else, or something more. The issue of migrants and refugees from the Middle East may still be something from which cinema mostly averts its gaze. Not Kaurismäki’s cinema. With his previous film Le Havre, and this very sympathetic and charming new work, The Other Side of Hope, Kaurismäki has made refugees his focus – and done so without appearing to change style or tonal tack. His humane comedy, with its air of unworldly absurdity, has absorbed this idea, but not undermined its seriousness in any way, in fact embraced it with almost miraculous ease and simplicity.
The movies of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, with their deadpan drollery and aquarium light, have long been a habit-forming pleasure. But increasingly they are something else, or something more. The issue of migrants and refugees from the Middle East may still be something from which cinema mostly averts its gaze. Not Kaurismäki’s cinema. With his previous film Le Havre, and this very sympathetic and charming new work, The Other Side of Hope, Kaurismäki has made refugees his focus – and done so without appearing to change style or tonal tack. His humane comedy, with its air of unworldly absurdity, has absorbed this idea, but not undermined its seriousness in any way, in fact embraced it with almost miraculous ease and simplicity.
- 5/25/2017
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The first time I went to the Berlin Film Festival, the city was existentially cold, cottoned in fog, and grayer than “Wings of Desire.” And I loved it. I had just been laid off and my personal life was mired in one of those brutally unsolicited periods of self-reflection, so a jet-lagged week in the grim heart of Europe was just what the doctor ordered.
That was the year of titles like “Boyhood,” the frigid Chinese neo-noir “Black Coal, Thin Ice,” and an Estonian drama about a film critic who loses his newspaper job — and then his mind — after filing a two-word review of “The Tree of Life.” (“Fuck you.”) I bundled up and walked by the Reichstag, spent a few nights on the east side of town, and tried most of the brews at the House of 100 Beers, a flavorless, three-tiered tourist trap near the center of the festival...
That was the year of titles like “Boyhood,” the frigid Chinese neo-noir “Black Coal, Thin Ice,” and an Estonian drama about a film critic who loses his newspaper job — and then his mind — after filing a two-word review of “The Tree of Life.” (“Fuck you.”) I bundled up and walked by the Reichstag, spent a few nights on the east side of town, and tried most of the brews at the House of 100 Beers, a flavorless, three-tiered tourist trap near the center of the festival...
- 2/22/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
“The Other Side of Hope”
Winsome, sweet, and often very funny, the second chapter of Aki Kaurismäki’s unofficial trilogy about port cities is a delightful story about the power of kindness that unfolds like a slightly more somber riff on 2011’s “Le Havre.” The Finnish auteur’s latest refugee story begins with a twentysomething Syrian man named Khaled (terrific newcomer Sherwan Haji), who escapes from Aleppo after burying most of his family and sneaks into Finland by stowing away in the cargo hold of a coal freighter. His path eventually crosses with Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen), a newly single restauranteur who could use a helping hand. Part Roy Andersson and part Frank Capra, “The Other Side of Hope” deepens the director’s recognition of how immigrants and refugees are victimized by their invisibility, and its timeliness could help it strike a chord with domestic audiences. “Le Havre” grossed more than...
Winsome, sweet, and often very funny, the second chapter of Aki Kaurismäki’s unofficial trilogy about port cities is a delightful story about the power of kindness that unfolds like a slightly more somber riff on 2011’s “Le Havre.” The Finnish auteur’s latest refugee story begins with a twentysomething Syrian man named Khaled (terrific newcomer Sherwan Haji), who escapes from Aleppo after burying most of his family and sneaks into Finland by stowing away in the cargo hold of a coal freighter. His path eventually crosses with Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen), a newly single restauranteur who could use a helping hand. Part Roy Andersson and part Frank Capra, “The Other Side of Hope” deepens the director’s recognition of how immigrants and refugees are victimized by their invisibility, and its timeliness could help it strike a chord with domestic audiences. “Le Havre” grossed more than...
- 2/20/2017
- by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn and Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The Other Side of Hope. Malla Hukkanen © Sputnik OyLaughter is a rare gift at film festivals, which so often feel like relentless gloom and doom contests. In this year’s Berlinale Competition, at least thus far, good films have been in even shorter supply than funny ones. I’m really glad to report there’s been improvement on both fronts—after a truly lamentable first few days, laughs as well as quality started trickling into the festival’s main slate.It was a pretty safe bet that Aki Kaurismäki’s new film, The Other Side of Hope, would be a stand-out. The high expectations were surpassed: this may very well be the great Finn’s best outing since his 1996 masterpiece Drifting Clouds. The second part of a planned trilogy addressing the current refugee crisis in Europe, The Other Side of Hope bears strong narrative similarities to its predecessor Le Havre...
- 2/15/2017
- MUBI
The Finnish screenwriter employs his usual sensitivity to highlight the experiences of two men who flee their homes and form an unlikely friendship
“Always different, always the same”: John Peel’s famous description of The Fall applies equally well to the work of the melancholy Finnish minimalist Aki Kaurismäki. The 59-year-old has been writing and directing for more than 30 years, scarcely tweaking his formula of woebegone absurdism. His films, which include the knockabout Leningrad Cowboys Go America and the poignant Cannes Grand Prix-winner The Man Without a Past, are mostly set in the Finland that time forgot, where there is scant evidence that things have progressed beyond the 1950s. Vodka, rockabilly, Brylcreem and smokes are the order of the day; they are the only things that lighten life’s load. Along with kindness and companionship, which sprout unexpectedly in the gloom like spring daffodils in February.
Related: Le Havre – review
Continue reading.
“Always different, always the same”: John Peel’s famous description of The Fall applies equally well to the work of the melancholy Finnish minimalist Aki Kaurismäki. The 59-year-old has been writing and directing for more than 30 years, scarcely tweaking his formula of woebegone absurdism. His films, which include the knockabout Leningrad Cowboys Go America and the poignant Cannes Grand Prix-winner The Man Without a Past, are mostly set in the Finland that time forgot, where there is scant evidence that things have progressed beyond the 1950s. Vodka, rockabilly, Brylcreem and smokes are the order of the day; they are the only things that lighten life’s load. Along with kindness and companionship, which sprout unexpectedly in the gloom like spring daffodils in February.
Related: Le Havre – review
Continue reading.
- 2/14/2017
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Like Roger Federer’s forehand or Jiro Ono’s sushi, Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan is one of those beautiful things that’s been refined beyond all reason over years of intense practice, eventually approaching a perfection that makes it easy to predict but impossible to deny.
Consider one early bit of business in the Finnish filmmaker’s latest fable, a wordless sequence in which a middle-aged man named Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves his wife (Kaija Pakarinen). It’s the dead of night. The man is wearing a suit and looking at his reflection in the bedroom mirror; his wife is pouring herself a drink at the tiny table in the corner of their kitchen. A fat cactus sits next to her booze. Wikström saunters over, places his wedding band and apartment keys on the table, and walks out the door. His wife lights another cigarette, picks up the ring, and stubs it into the ashtray.
Consider one early bit of business in the Finnish filmmaker’s latest fable, a wordless sequence in which a middle-aged man named Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves his wife (Kaija Pakarinen). It’s the dead of night. The man is wearing a suit and looking at his reflection in the bedroom mirror; his wife is pouring herself a drink at the tiny table in the corner of their kitchen. A fat cactus sits next to her booze. Wikström saunters over, places his wedding band and apartment keys on the table, and walks out the door. His wife lights another cigarette, picks up the ring, and stubs it into the ashtray.
- 2/14/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
This year’s Berlin International Film Festival bows in Germany later this week and with it, one of Europe’s most exciting and singular film festivals. As ever, the annual fest is playing home to dozens of feature films and short offerings, with picks aplenty from both modern masters and fresh faces. The Berlinale often breeds some of indie film’s most unexpected and unique standouts, so if it’s at the fest, it’s likely worth a look.
Read More: 5 Exciting Films in the 2017 Berlin Film Festival Competition Lineup
Ahead, check out the 8 titles we are most excited to check out at this year’s festival.
“Have a Nice Day”
Expectations are high for this Chinese animated feature that marks the sophomore effort from director Liu Jiang, whose surreal debut “Piercing” offered an inventive look at modern day city life in China’s capital. If the gorgeous stills from...
Read More: 5 Exciting Films in the 2017 Berlin Film Festival Competition Lineup
Ahead, check out the 8 titles we are most excited to check out at this year’s festival.
“Have a Nice Day”
Expectations are high for this Chinese animated feature that marks the sophomore effort from director Liu Jiang, whose surreal debut “Piercing” offered an inventive look at modern day city life in China’s capital. If the gorgeous stills from...
- 2/8/2017
- by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Other Side of Hope (aka Refugee)
Director: Aki Kaurismaki
Writer: Aki Kaurismaki
Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismaki scored some of the best notices of his impressive career with his last film, 2011’s French language Le Havre.
Continue reading...
Director: Aki Kaurismaki
Writer: Aki Kaurismaki
Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismaki scored some of the best notices of his impressive career with his last film, 2011’s French language Le Havre.
Continue reading...
- 1/9/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
There are a few ingredients that mark the films of Aki Kaurismaki: a camera that doesn’t fuss around too much, a deliciously deadpan humor, an eclectic soundtrack, and absurd situations that still never lose sight of sympathy for the characters at the heart of the story. And those are all on display in the first international trailer for “The Other Side Of Hope.”
The director’s first feature since 2011’s “Le Havre,” and the second installment in what will become a port city trilogy, the film chronicles the journey of a Syrian refugee as he attempts to seek asylum in Helsinki, and the relationship he sparks with a traveling salesman turned restauranteur.
Continue reading A Refugee Seeks Asylum In First International Trailer For Aki Kaurismaki’s ‘The Other Side Of Hope’ at The Playlist.
The director’s first feature since 2011’s “Le Havre,” and the second installment in what will become a port city trilogy, the film chronicles the journey of a Syrian refugee as he attempts to seek asylum in Helsinki, and the relationship he sparks with a traveling salesman turned restauranteur.
Continue reading A Refugee Seeks Asylum In First International Trailer For Aki Kaurismaki’s ‘The Other Side Of Hope’ at The Playlist.
- 1/1/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Finnish cinema is back in a major next year as Aki Kaurismäki will soon debut his first feature since 2001’s Le Havre. Set for a world premiere at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival in early February, we’ve been anticipating The Other Side of Hope for some time now and the first trailer has finally arrived today.
Starring Sakari Kuosmanen and Sherwan Haji, the story follows a poker-playing restauranteur and former traveling salesman who befriends a group of refugees newly arrived from Finland. While there’s no subtitles, a good amount of the dialogue is in English, which gives us a strong sense for what to expect for the film, hopefully picking up U.S. distribution soon.
Check out the trailer below thanks to Screen Anarchy, and we’ll update when an English-subtitled version arrives.
The Other Side of Hope will premiere at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival in...
Starring Sakari Kuosmanen and Sherwan Haji, the story follows a poker-playing restauranteur and former traveling salesman who befriends a group of refugees newly arrived from Finland. While there’s no subtitles, a good amount of the dialogue is in English, which gives us a strong sense for what to expect for the film, hopefully picking up U.S. distribution soon.
Check out the trailer below thanks to Screen Anarchy, and we’ll update when an English-subtitled version arrives.
The Other Side of Hope will premiere at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival in...
- 12/30/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Comfortably wedged between Sundance and Cannes in every respect, the Berlin Film Festival is a massive orgy of world cinema that’s come to be known for the unrivaled variety of its programming. Best illustrated by its adventurous sidebars, the festival’s exotic tastes — unusual for such a glitzy and commercialized culture event — often spill over into the more prestigious Competition section, which has served as a launching pad for several of the current decade’s very best films (many of which, like Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Things to Come,” might have slipped through the cracks if not for such a prominent spotlight). And, in stark contrast to Cannes, the festival’s recent winners have been as worthy as they have been unexpected, ranging from a frigid Chinese neo-noir (“Black Coal, Thin Ice”) to a crushingly intimate documentary about Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis (“Fire at Sea”).
The first portion of...
The first portion of...
- 12/15/2016
- by David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Steve Coogan, Kristin Scott Thomas and Laura Linney also in the star lineup, alongside directors Sally Potter, Agnieszka Holland and Aki Kaurismaki
Richard Gere, Kristin Scott Thomas and Penélope Cruz will be heading for the Potsdamer Platz in February as the Berlin film festival announced its first tranche of screenings.
Among a clutch of films receiving their world premiere in the competition section of the festival are The Dinner, which features Gere alongside Steve Coogan, Laura Linney and Rebecca Hall in a thriller about two married couples who meet to discuss what to do about a crime apparently committed by their children; and political fable The Party, written and directed by Sally Potter, whose cast includes Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Cillian Murphy. Other potential Golden Bear winners include films from European auteurs Agnieszka Holland and Aki Kaurismaki. The former has directed Pokot (Aka Spoor), adapted from Olga Tokarczuk...
Richard Gere, Kristin Scott Thomas and Penélope Cruz will be heading for the Potsdamer Platz in February as the Berlin film festival announced its first tranche of screenings.
Among a clutch of films receiving their world premiere in the competition section of the festival are The Dinner, which features Gere alongside Steve Coogan, Laura Linney and Rebecca Hall in a thriller about two married couples who meet to discuss what to do about a crime apparently committed by their children; and political fable The Party, written and directed by Sally Potter, whose cast includes Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Cillian Murphy. Other potential Golden Bear winners include films from European auteurs Agnieszka Holland and Aki Kaurismaki. The former has directed Pokot (Aka Spoor), adapted from Olga Tokarczuk...
- 12/15/2016
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
After Sundance Film Festival concludes in late January, the next big cinematic event on the globe is the Berlin International Film Festival. With Paul Verhoeven serving as jury president for the 67th edition of the festival, they’ve now announced their first line-up of titles, including Aki Kaurismäki‘s The Other Side of Hope (pictured above), Oren Moverman‘s Richard Gere-led The Dinner, Sally Potter‘s The Party (pictured below), and Agnieszka Holland‘s Spoor, as well as a restoration of a Rainer Werner Fassbinder TV show.
Check out the first titles below, and return for our coverage from the festival.
Competition
A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul)
Hungary
By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)
With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider
World premiere
Ana, mon amour
Romania/Germany/France
By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)
With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti,...
Check out the first titles below, and return for our coverage from the festival.
Competition
A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul)
Hungary
By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)
With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider
World premiere
Ana, mon amour
Romania/Germany/France
By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)
With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti,...
- 12/15/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Aki Kaurismäki, Oren Moverman, Agnieszka Holland, Sally Potter among competition lineup.
The first 14 films have been announced for the Competition and Berlinale Special sections of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.
Among directors with movies in competition are Aki Kaurismäki, Oren Moverman, Agnieszka Holland, Andres Veiel, Sebastián Lelio and Sally Potter.
Moverman’s (The Messenger) mystery-drama The Dinner stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall and Chloë Sevigny.
Fernando Trueba’s comedy-drama The Queen of Spain, starring Penelope Cruz, will get its international premiere in the Berlinale Special strand.
More to follow…
Competition
A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul) (Hungary)
By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)
With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider
World premiere
Ana, mon amour (Romania / Germany / France)
By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)
With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti, Carmen Tănase, Adrian Titieni, Vlad Ivanov
World premiere
Beuys - Documentary (Germany)
By Andres Veiel ([link...
The first 14 films have been announced for the Competition and Berlinale Special sections of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.
Among directors with movies in competition are Aki Kaurismäki, Oren Moverman, Agnieszka Holland, Andres Veiel, Sebastián Lelio and Sally Potter.
Moverman’s (The Messenger) mystery-drama The Dinner stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall and Chloë Sevigny.
Fernando Trueba’s comedy-drama The Queen of Spain, starring Penelope Cruz, will get its international premiere in the Berlinale Special strand.
More to follow…
Competition
A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul) (Hungary)
By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)
With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider
World premiere
Ana, mon amour (Romania / Germany / France)
By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)
With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti, Carmen Tănase, Adrian Titieni, Vlad Ivanov
World premiere
Beuys - Documentary (Germany)
By Andres Veiel ([link...
- 12/15/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
First image released from new film about Finnish travelling salesman who meets a Syrian refugee.
Aki Kaurismaki’s new film The Other Side Of Hope (Toivon Tuolla Puolen) has confirmed its Finnish release date of Feb 3. The Match Factory handles international sales.
The 98-minute film, shot in the early autumn in Helsinki, tells the story of a Finnish travelling salesman crossing paths with a Syrian refugee.
The Other Side Of Hope is the second instalment in Kaurismäki’s trilogy focusing on port cities, which began with Le Havre.
The lead actors are Sherwan Haji as Syrian refugee Khaled, and Sakari Kuosmanen as Wikström the salesman.
The cast also includes Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu and Ilkka Koivula as personnel of the “Kultainen tuoppi” restaurant owned by Wikström, and Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon playing Iraqi asylum seeker Mazdak. Other cast includes Kaija Pakarinen, Kati Outinen, Tommi Korpela and Tuomari Nurmio.
Key crew includes DoP Timo Salminen, costume designer...
Aki Kaurismaki’s new film The Other Side Of Hope (Toivon Tuolla Puolen) has confirmed its Finnish release date of Feb 3. The Match Factory handles international sales.
The 98-minute film, shot in the early autumn in Helsinki, tells the story of a Finnish travelling salesman crossing paths with a Syrian refugee.
The Other Side Of Hope is the second instalment in Kaurismäki’s trilogy focusing on port cities, which began with Le Havre.
The lead actors are Sherwan Haji as Syrian refugee Khaled, and Sakari Kuosmanen as Wikström the salesman.
The cast also includes Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu and Ilkka Koivula as personnel of the “Kultainen tuoppi” restaurant owned by Wikström, and Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon playing Iraqi asylum seeker Mazdak. Other cast includes Kaija Pakarinen, Kati Outinen, Tommi Korpela and Tuomari Nurmio.
Key crew includes DoP Timo Salminen, costume designer...
- 12/8/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
As Cannes approaches, Screen recalls what came top (and bottom) of our Jury Grid in 2011 - a year that included The Artist, Drive and a wave of controversy from Lars Von Trier.
In annual tradition, Screen’s illustrious jury of international critics delivered their verdict on the films in Competition at Cannes 2011 - the year that the Palme d’Or went to Terrence Malick for his experimental drama The Tree of Life.
The film marked the elusive Us auteur’s first return to the festival since winning best director for Days of Heaven in 1978.
But Screen’s jury was not as impressed. While The Tree of Life scored a respectable 2.8 out of 4, top marks went to atmospheric Turkish crime drama Once Upon a Time in Anatolia by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, with a score of 3.3.
The film was Ceylan’s fourth in Competition at Cannes, and tied for the Grand Jury Prize with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s [link...
In annual tradition, Screen’s illustrious jury of international critics delivered their verdict on the films in Competition at Cannes 2011 - the year that the Palme d’Or went to Terrence Malick for his experimental drama The Tree of Life.
The film marked the elusive Us auteur’s first return to the festival since winning best director for Days of Heaven in 1978.
But Screen’s jury was not as impressed. While The Tree of Life scored a respectable 2.8 out of 4, top marks went to atmospheric Turkish crime drama Once Upon a Time in Anatolia by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, with a score of 3.3.
The film was Ceylan’s fourth in Competition at Cannes, and tied for the Grand Jury Prize with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s [link...
- 5/4/2016
- ScreenDaily
As Cannes approaches, Screen recalls what came top (and bottom) of our Jury Grid in 2011 - a year that included The Artist, Drive and a wave of controversy from Lars Von Trier.
In annual tradition, Screen’s illustrious jury of international critics delivered their verdict on the films in Competition at Cannes 2011 - the year that the Palme d’Or went to Terrence Malick for his experimental drama The Tree of Life.
The film marked the elusive Us auteur’s first return to the festival since winning best director for Days of Heaven in 1978.
But Screen’s jury was not as impressed. While The Tree of Life scored a respectable 2.8 out of 4, top marks went to atmospheric Turkish crime drama Once Upon a Time in Anatolia by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, with a score of 3.3.
The film was Ceylan’s fourth in Competition at Cannes, and tied for the Grand Jury Prize with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s [link...
In annual tradition, Screen’s illustrious jury of international critics delivered their verdict on the films in Competition at Cannes 2011 - the year that the Palme d’Or went to Terrence Malick for his experimental drama The Tree of Life.
The film marked the elusive Us auteur’s first return to the festival since winning best director for Days of Heaven in 1978.
But Screen’s jury was not as impressed. While The Tree of Life scored a respectable 2.8 out of 4, top marks went to atmospheric Turkish crime drama Once Upon a Time in Anatolia by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, with a score of 3.3.
The film was Ceylan’s fourth in Competition at Cannes, and tied for the Grand Jury Prize with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s [link...
- 5/4/2016
- ScreenDaily
It was announced in December that Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki would be embarking on production for his next picture, which would be the second chapter in his "port city trilogy" that was kicked off with 2011's charming "Le Havre." The working title for the flick had been "Refugee," which as you might guess is informed by the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe. Read More: Cannes Review: 'Le Havre,' Another Hilarious, Humane & Moving Film From Aki Kaurismäki The Finnish Film Foundation has announced that it's granting production funding to Kaurismaki's new project, which now is now evidently called "The Other Side Of Hope." No official details have been released, but last year it was said that Kaurismäki regular Sakari Kuosmanen ("The Man Without A Past," "Drifting Clouds," "Leningrad Cowboys Go America," "Shadows In...
- 4/26/2016
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
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