Aki Kaurismäki

Biography

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 C…

Directed

1. Fallen Leaves (2023) — Director
2. Le Havre (2011) — Director
3. Shadows in Paradise (1986) — Director
4. The Man Without a Past (2002) — Director
5. Ariel (1988) — Director
6. The Other Side of Hope (2017) — Director
7. The Match Factory Girl (1990) — Director
8. I Hired a Contract Killer (1990) — Director
9. Drifting Clouds (1996) — Director
10. Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989) — Director
11. Lights in the Dusk (2006) — Director
12. To Each His Own Cinema (2007) — Director
13. La Vie de Bohème (1992) — Director
14. Calamari Union (1985) — Director
15. Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana (1994) — Director
16. Crime and Punishment (1983) — Director
17. Rocky VI (1986) — Director
18. Juha (1999) — Director
19. Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994) — Director
20. Hamlet Goes Business (1987) — Director
21. Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) — Director
22. Tavern Man (2012) — Director
23. Total Balalaika Show (1994) — Director
24. Visions of Europe (2004) — Director
25. Historic Centre (2012) — Director
26. The Saimaa Gesture (1981) — Director
27. Dirty Hands (2015) — Director
28. Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla (2013) — Director
29. The Foundry (2007) — Director
30. Bico (2004) — Director
31. Dogs Have No Hell (2002) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Shadows in Paradise (1986) — Hotel Receptionist (uncredited)
2. I Hired a Contract Killer (1990) — Sunglasses Seller (uncredited)
3. Calamari Union (1985) — Hearse Driver (uncredited)
4. Rocky VI (1986) — Magazine Photographer
5. Aaltra (2004) — Aaltra's Boss
6. Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994) — Factory Worker Imitating Chaplin (uncredited)
7. The Worthless (1982) — Ville Alfa
8. Critic (2008) — Self
9. The Liar (1981) — Ville Alfa
10. Jackpot 2 (1982)
11. The Saimaa Gesture (1981) — Self - Interviewer (uncredited)
12. I Am Curious, Film (1995) — Self
13. The Dinosaur (2021) — Self
14. Huhtikuu on kuukausista julmin (1983) — Ville Alfa
15. Viimeiset rotannahat (1985)
16. Bohemian Eyes (2011) — Self
17. Temples of Dreams (2015) — Self
18. Aki Kaurismäki (2001) — Self
19. Talking with Ozu (1993) — Self
20. Ylösnousemus (1985) — Taksikuski
21. Iron Horsemen (1995) — Cadillac Man
22. Cinéma Laika (2023) — Self
23. A Special Day (2012) — Self
24. Peter von Bagh (2016) — Self
25. Il était une fois... Le Havre (2014) — himself
26. Where Is Musette? (1992) — Self
27. Aki and Peter (2018) — Himself
28. Léaud l'unique (2001) — Self - filmmaker
29. Shit Happens (1992) — Estonian
30. Valokeilassa Atte Blom (2015) — Self
31. Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: Aki Kaurismäki (1991) — Self
32. Plankton Salesmen (2017) — Self (archive footage)