Finland

Mika Kaurismäki’s film The Liar (1980) was an overnight sensation, when first shown in Finland; it marked the beginning of the cinema of the Kaurismäki brothers and started a new era in the Finnish cinema. After high school Mika Kaurismäki worked as a painter of houses and apartments in Kuusankoski in the Southeastern part of Finland. In 1976, he decided he would become a film director. Mika Kaurismäki studied cinema in Munich, Germany, (Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen) 1977-1981 and made his diplom film The Liar in 1980 in Finland. His younger brother Aki Kaurismäki, then a student of journalism, played the main role and also co-wrote the screenplay. After the success of The Liar, Mika Kaurismäki decided to stay in Finland and together with his brother and some friends he founded the production company Villealfa Filmproductions, that soon became a home of vital low- or no-budget filmmaking; by the end of the 80’s it was the third biggest film production company of all times in Finland. The Villealfa film family consisted, besides the Kaurismäki brothers, of many colleagues and friends, including the actors Matti Pellonpää and Kari Väänänen and the cinematographer Timo Salminen. During the active Villealfa years, Mika co-founded the legendary Midnight Sun Film Festival (1986), the distribution company Senso Films (1987) and the Andorra cinemas in Helsinki. The new millennium started for Mika with the production of Moro no Brasil (2002), the praised documentary of Brazilian music. In 2003 he was a member of the jury at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival. His film, The Road North, starring Vesa-Matti Loiri and Samuli Edelmann, premiered in Finland in August 2012, and was a success with more than 200,000 viewers by the end of September of that year.

Filmography

Wilde Witwe (1979)
Saimaa-ilmiö / The Saimaa Gesture (1981)
The Liar / Valehtelija (1981)
Arvottomat / The Worthless (1982)
Jackpot 2 (1982)
Klaani: Tarina Sammakoitten suvusta / The Clan – Tale of the Frogs (1984)
Rosso (1985)
Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987)
Yötyö / Night Work (1988)
Paperitähti / Paper Star (1989)
Cha Cha Cha (1989)
Amazon (1990)
Zombie ja Kummitusjuna / Zombie and the Ghost Train (1991)
The Last Border / Viimeisellä rajalla (1993)
Tigrero: A Film That Was Never Made (1994)
Condition Red (1995)
Danske piger viser alt / Danish Girls Show Everything – Rhythm (1996)
Sambólico (1996)
I Love L.A. / L.A. Without a Map (1998)
Highway Society (2000)
Moro no Brasil / Sound of Brazil (2002)
Bem-Vindo a São Paulo / Welcome to São Paulo – Manha De Domingo (2004)
Honey Baby (2004)
Brasileirinho – Grandes Encontros do Choro / The Sound of Rio: Brasileirinho (2005)
Sonic Mirror / Hangtükör (2007)
Kolme viisasta miestä / Three Wise Men (2008)
Malê Debalê (2009)
The Sound of Glarus (2009)
Haarautuvan rakkauden talo / The House of Branching Love (2009)
Vesku from Finland (2010)
Veljekset / Brothers (2011)
Mama Africa (2011)
Tie pohjoiseen / Road North (2012)
Homecoming (2015)
The Girl King (2015)
Ryhmäteatteri (2018)
Master Cheng (2019)