Biography
Aki Olavi Kaurismäki is a Finnish film director, screenwriter and producer. Born on 4 April 1957 in Orimattila, Finland, he is the younger brother of director Mika Kaurismäki. He graduated in media studies from the University of Tampere and worked in various jobs including bricklayer, postman and dishwasher before entering cinema as a critic. He began his filmmaking career collaborating with his brother on The Liar (1981) and co-founded the production company Villealfa Filmproductions and the Midnight Sun Film Festival. His directorial debut was the adaptation Crime and Punishment (1983).
Kaurismäki is best known for films including Shadows in Paradise (1986), Ariel (1988), Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), The Match Factory Girl (1990), Drifting Clouds (1996), The Man Without a Past (2002), Le Havre (2011), The Other Side of Hope (2017) and Fallen Leaves (2023), on which he also served as producer. Several of his films have received awards at Cannes, including the Grand Prix for The Man Without a Past and the Jury Prize for Fallen Leaves.
