Showtimes January 13 - 17:

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival & Finland’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Academy Awards, the beguiling new comedic romance from celebrated auteur Aki Kaurismäki (Le Ha-vre, Drifting Clouds, The Other Side Of Hope) follows two lost souls who meet by chance and then try, in turbulent times, to find companionship.

Ansa (Alma Pöysti) works at a supermarket, where the job is so badly paid that she takes home expired sandwiches for dinner. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is a metalworker, labouring in a job so hazardous he’s sure it will kill him, so he drinks through the day, and then again at night. Meanwhile, the radio constantly carries news about the near-by war in Ukraine. One evening, against his will, Holappa is dragged to a karaoke bar by a friend. “Tough guys don’t sing”, he says. But karaoke night is also a night for romance, and when Holappa meets the shy Ansa, there’s an immediate spark. But life being what it is, a variety of obstacles conspire to get in the way.

With his trademark deadpan humour, minimalist dialogue and retro aesthetic, Kaurismäki's latest delight showcases his unrivalled mastery for depicting down-on-their-luck characters in all their complexity, and finding humour and optimism in the unlikeliest of circumstances. In a time of economic disparity, war and uncertainty, FALLEN LEAVES is a valuable reminder of the importance of love and connection; once again Finland’s most-beloved director has delivered, in spades.

 (Finland, Germany / 2023 / Directed by Aki Kaurismäki)
Unrated / 1 hr 21 mins
In Finnish with subtitles