Film info

Storyline

This film tells two stories that converge after forty minutes. The first of these features Khaled, a Syrian refugee. A stowaway on a coal freighter, he ends up in Helsinki where he applies for asylum without much hope of success. Wikström, the second main character, is a travelling salesman peddling ties and men’s shirts. Turning his back on his trade, he instead decides to put his poker face to good use at a gambling table and subsequently buys himself a restaurant in the remotest corner of Helsinki. When the authorities turn down Khaled’s application, he decides to remain in the country illegally, like so many other people who share his fate. Going underground in the Finnish capital, he lives on the streets and encounters all kinds of racism, but also some cool rock ’n’ rollers and genuine friendship. One day Wikström discovers Khaled sleeping in the dark backyard behind his restaurant. He provides him with a bed and a job. These two band together with the waitress, the chef and his dog to form a utopian union – one of Aki Kaurismäki’s typical communities bound together by fate which demonstrates that the world could and should be a better place.

Aki Kaurismaki is the most famous Finnish film director. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll.

Screening schedule

• 24.08.2017.

  Danubian sand island

  14:30h
• 24.08.2017.

  Urania cinema, Osijek

  20:00h

Tickets for screenings at Cinestar Vukovar, Danubian Sand Island, Borovo Cinema, Valpovo culture center, Centar znanja Vinkovci, Vucedol museum are free. For screenings at locations - Terrace of Agency for Waterways and Castle Eltz Park admission is 15 HRK. Tickets.