Oscars: Finland Selects Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes Competition Title ‘Fallen Leaves’ For Best International Film Race
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Finland has selected Fallen Leaves, the latest feature from celebrated filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki, as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2024 Oscars.
The pic, which debuted in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, tells the story of two lonely people (Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen) who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and try to find the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives. Their path towards this honorable goal is clouded by the man’s alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other’s names or addresses, and life’s general tendency to place obstacles in the way of those seeking their happiness.
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Out of Cannes, Deadline’s Pete Hammond described the pic as “a flat-out gem” that’s “wonderful, wryly funny, and poignant.” Mubi has nabbed the feature for several territories, including North America, the UK, Ireland, Latin America, and Turkey.
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Fallen Leaves is the 20th feature from Kaurismäki and the fourth film in a working-class film series from the director, following Shadows in Paradise, Ariel, and The Match Factory Girl.
Also starring are Janne Hyytiäinen and Nuppu Koivu. The film was produced by Sputnik Oy and Bufo and co-produced by Pandora Film. It was made with the support of the Finnish Film Foundation, Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, ZDF/ARTE, ARTE G.E.I.E, Filmförderungsanstalt, and Film-und Medienstiftung NRW.
Here’s the list of category submissions so far:
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