Six years after the sublime, award-winning Le Havre, Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki returns with comedy-drama The Other Side of Hope – the second in his planned trilogy focusing on port cities – and this time informed by the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe.
Kaurismäki regular Sakari Kuosmanen stars as Wikstrom, a poker-playing restaurateur and former travelling salesman who crosses paths with a Syrian refugee (Sherwan Haji), part of a group newly arrived in Finland.
Shot on 35mm in Helsinki by Kaurismäki’s long-time collaborator Timo Salminen, The Other Side of Hope promises topicality and emotive heft via its study of that most pressing of global issues: the plight of the refugee. Selected to screen in Competition at the Berlinale in February, it looks sure to generate both glowing reviews and significant ancillary press.
