Aki Kaurismäki is a genre unto himself. If you’ve seen Le Havre or The Other Side of Hope then you know what to expect, and if you haven’t, they’re charming, deadpan comedies about working class people, often melancholic or just alcoholic, but goodhearted and kind to dogs (there’s always a dog). In Fallen Leaves, Ansi (Alma Pöysti) meets Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), and these two lonely souls feel they are meant for each other, but Fate seems to have other ideas… From this simple love story, Kaurismäki crafts a poignant and pertinent comedy which picked up the Jury Prize at Cannes.
Jury Prize, Cannes 2023
Actually-funny and not just arthouse-funny […] Fallen Leaves is another of Kaurismäki’s beguiling and delightful cinephile comedies, featuring foot-tapping rock’n’roll. It’s romantic and sweet-natured, in a deadpan style that in no way undermines or ironises the emotions involved and with some sharp things to say about contemporary politics. Fallen Leaves is a film with a big heart, as absurd and cartoony as it may be, it fills you with a feel-good glow.
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu
Finland/Germany
2023
Special Presentations
In Finnish with English subtitles
Alcohol Abuse
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Producer
Aki Kaurismäki, Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff, Reinhard Brundig
Screenwriter
Aki Kaurismäki
Cinematography
Timo Salminen
Editor
Samu Heikkilä
Production Design
Ville Grönroos
Director
Aki Kaurismäki
Along with his brother Mika, Aki Kaurismäki’s output constitutes roughly one fifth of the Finnish film industry’s feature film production since the early 1980s. A former film critic, Kaurismäki found international acclaim for his deadpan, slowburn humanist comedies. Both The Man Without a Past (2002) and Fallen Leaves (2023) won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes.
Filmography: Shadows in Paradise (1986); Drifting Clouds (1996); The Man Without a Past (2002); Le Havre (2011); The Other Side of Hope (2017)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Living Together
Halima Elkhatabi’s delightful documentary feature takes us to 15 apartments in Montreal, where a diverse assortment of potential roommates interview each other as they search for compatibility, authentic connections, and a place to call home.
Emilia Pérez
When a defence attorney (Zoe Saldana) is enlisted to tend to the affairs of a notorious drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) completing gender affirmation surgery, there will be blood, ballads, and dance numbers. A maximalist musical from Jacques Audiard.
Vermiglio
Delperro's exquisitely photographed movie -- Italy's submission for the Academy Awards -- recreates the austere and harsh lifestyle in an Alpine village at the tail end of WWII with revelatory care and compassion.
A New Kind of Wilderness
An idyllic life on a family farm in Norway becomes an impossible task when Nik's wife dies from cancer. This quietly affecting film follows his struggles to do right by his kids, himself, and his late wife's wishes.
Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back
Bob Dylan is captured on-screen as he never would be again in this groundbreaking film from D. A. Pennebaker. The legendary documentarian finds Dylan in England during his 1965 tour, which would be his last as an acoustic artist.