10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

News:

The Other Side of Hope Opens 6th CIFFR

The Other Side of Hope by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, opens the 6th CIFFR on Wednesday 5 April. The five day festival that runs through Sunday 9 April again offers an interesting mix of local and regional film talent in competition, highlights from the festival in Rotterdam and brand new titles from other film festival.

The films by Aki Kaurismäki (1957, Finland), from Drifting Clouds to The Man Without a Past, for which he won the Golden Palm (for best director), are characterized by dry humor, a simple style, and understated acting.

In The Other Side of Hope, Kaurismäki gives his own unique twist to the refugee crisis, creating a dryly humorous, absurdist world in which everyday cruelty is supplanted by humanity.
Syrian Khaled requests asylum in Helsinki and waits for status to be granted. Elsewhere in the city, Wikström – an aging sales rep – decides to radically change his life. He leaves his wife, earns a fortune playing poker and uses the money to buy an old-school restaurant – complete with staff. When Khaled’s asylum application is rejected, he decides to remain in Finland illegally. Because, in spite of the uneven experience, the Syrian has fallen for the place, hook, line and sinker. When both gentlemen accidentally meet, they prove to suit each other’s lives miraculously well.

The Other Side of Hope (2017) was awarded the Silver Bear for best director at the film festival of Berlin.

Visit the Film A-Z section on this website for the full program and schedule (see also Festival in the main menu). Ticket sale for the festival starts at The Cinemas on Saturday 1 April at 10:00.



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