Directed by Aki Kaurismäki

The wry, deadpan seriocomedies of Finland’s most famous director are infused with both a minimalist cool and the wintry, desolate spirit of their frequent setting, Helsinki. Whether surveying the desperate lives of the down-and-out in his bittersweet Proletariat Trilogy (SHADOWS IN PARADISE, ARIEL, THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL), the comic exploits of “the worst rock-and-roll band in the world” in the uproarious LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA and its sequels, or the human side of Europe’s refugee crisis in LE HAVRE and THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE, Kaurismäki finds both gentle humor and cautious optimism in the bleakest of circumstances.