Some surprising news from Variety (from one of our own in Cannes Critics Panel journalist Marta Balaga) this morning with an update on Finnish cinema — we got Aki Kaurismäki moving into production on the fourth instalment that continues the so-called Proletariat Trilogy (Shadows in Paradise, Ariel, The Match Factory Girl). Dead Leaves will star Alma Pöysti (our Nicholas Bell interviewed the actress for Tove) and Jussi Vatanen. Production is expect to begin in August – so this is lining up for a possible Cannes 2023 showing. Kaurismäki’s last film The Other Side of Hope topped our Nicholas Bell’s Best of Berlinale in 2017.
We don’t have a logline yet for this 19th feature, but the filmmaker mentions that “tragicomedy seems to be my genre. I like to return to the themes of my youth and talk about the little man’s struggle against the faceless machine — and himself — all the while not forgetting about the humor.” Timo Salminen returns as the cinematographer. Production begins in August.
