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| Fallen Leaves |
The Finnish-German co-production Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki has won this year’s Arab Critics' Awards for European Films, which is being presented for the fifth time by European Film Promotion and Arab Cinema Center.
The Finnish director, who could not attend El Gouna Film Festival, where the announcement was made in person, said: "Ladies and gentlemen, dear film critics and other colleagues, I sincerely thank you for this honour. Unfortunately, I can´t be there, but I wish you all a pleasant evening in these otherwise sad times."
The Finnish-German co-production tells the story of two lonely people who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and try to find the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives. Fallen Leaves was nominated in five categories for the European Film Awards and is Finland's entry for the 96th Academy Awards.
"In this film", multi-award-winning master of Finnish cinema Aki Kaurismäki says, "I casually tip my too-small hat to my household gods Bresson, Ozu and Chaplin, but I am still solely responsible for this catastrophic failure." The tragicomedy, which screened in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Jury Prize, is the fourth part of Kaurismäki’s working-class trilogy (Shadows In Paradise, Ariel, and The Match Factory Girl).
The Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films was launched in 2019 by EFP and ACC. It is a spin-off from the ACC’s now well-established Critics' Awards to boost film diversity in the region and raise the interest of sales companies and the industry for outstanding European films. This initiative also aims to cast a spotlight on the distinguished film critics from 15 Arab-speaking countries and their important role in opening up new perspectives and bridging cultural idiosyncrasies.
