Film Forum

Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival, THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE is a “delightful comic fable” (Los Angeles Times) from acclaimed auteur Aki Kaurismäki (THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST, LE HAVRE). Young Syrian refugee Khaled (Sherwan Haji) shows up at a Helsinki port after narrowly escaping war-torn Aleppo by stowing away on a freighter. He encounters both racism and kindness from ordinary Finns. When immigration officials move to deport him, he goes underground – and crosses paths with the taciturn Wikström (Kaurismäki favorite Sakari Kuosmanen), a middle-aged traveling salesman looking to change up his life by opening a restaurant. Wikström gives Khaled a job in the fledgling eatery – The Golden Pint, a flop that quickly morphs into an eccentric sushi joint. It’s hallmark Kaurismäki – dry humor, deadpan characters, minimalist décor and impeccable comic timing – but with a universal resonance that could not be timelier. “It’s a deeply humane film, as well as a quietly hilarious one.” – Dave Calhoun, Time Out

FINLAND • 2017 • 100 MINS. • IN 35MM
IN FINNISH, ENGLISH AND ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • A JANUS FILMS RELEASE

Reviews

“CRITIC’S PICK. Funny and affecting...at once honest and artful, a touching and clear-sighted declaration of faith in people and in movies.”
– A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“VERY FUNNY, never losing sight of the droll, comic upside to life, but never making light of tragedy. A film that will gently warm your cold, cynical heart.”
– Kristen Yoonsoo Kim, The Village Voice

“A refined, pitch-perfect variation of the Kaurismaki touch. Moving, funny, a delight to look at, and marked by some of the best timing in the biz, Kaurismäki’s latest might also speak more profoundly about the Syrian crisis and its intercontinental reverberations than a straight-on documentary ever could. A user’s manual for how to have a little heart.”
– Dan Sullivan, Film Comment

“Full of brilliantly offhand gags and harrowing plot turns, this delightful comic fable expresses a belief in human decency, in the way things could be if only we all tried a little harder, that feels wise and hopeful rather than naive.”
– Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“Gorgeous tragicomedy. Captivating… It will come as no surprise to the writer-director’s fans that a vibrant strain of eccentric humor runs through the movie, ranging from delightful throwaway laughs to one scene of gut-busting hilarity that will make you think twice about ever setting foot in a dodgy sushi eatery again.”
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

“A micro-masterpiece of comic timing. Cinema’s reigning doyen of drollness. Winsome, sweet, and often very funny…. (with) 35mm compositions that look like the coldest paintings Edward Hopper never made. A magical Scandinavian idyll. Part Roy Andersson and part Frank Capra.”
– David Ehrlich, Indiewire

“Kaurismäki’s personal gift to the Donald Trump age, the kind of present the US president is not likely to appreciate.”
– Dan Fainaru, Screen Daily