Photo: Soppakanuuna / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Mika Kaurismaki is the Finnish director I think gets quietly overshadowed by his brother, but his own filmography earns the respect. Trained at the film school in Munich and decorated with the Pro Finlandia Medal and a French Legion of Honour, he clearly built a career that crossed borders rather than staying boxed into one national scene. What I find appealing is the range, jumping between fiction and music-driven work without losing curiosity. Born in 1955 in the small town of Orimattila, he strikes me as someone who turned a modest origin into a genuinely international body of work, and I respect that persistence.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Mika Kaurismäki
- Name (Japanese)
- ミカ・カウリスマキ
- Reading
- みか・かうりすまき
- Born
- September 21, 1955 (age 70)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Goat
- Origin
- Orimattila, Päijät-Häme, Finland
- Occupation
- screenwriter / film producer / film director / actor / film editor
2. Background
- University
- University of Television and Film Munich
Awards & achievements
- 1994 Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland
- 2001 Knight of the Legion of Honour
- 2018 Aho & Soldan lifetime achievement award
- 2015 Annual award ACFK
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Mika Kaurismäki born?
Born September 21, 1955 (age 70).
Where is Mika Kaurismäki from?
Mika Kaurismäki is from Orimattila, Päijät-Häme, Finland.
What does Mika Kaurismäki do?
Mika Kaurismäki works as screenwriter, film producer, film director, actor, film editor.
Screenwriter — see all → · Film producer — see all → · More people from Finland →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.