Since the 1980s, the deadpan, humanist comedies of Aki Kaurismäki have been consistently enjoyable and poignant, and occasionally, international hits (as with his 2011 picture Le Havre). His latest project, The Other Side of Hope, offers a clear-eyed response to the current refugee crisis by following the friendship of a displaced Syrian in Helsinki and a middle-aged Finnish salesman who decides to start over by purchasing a conspicuously unprofitable seafood restaurant. Filled with empathy for its characters, the film is a bittersweet tale of human kindness in the face of official indifference. (98 mins., 35mm)
Stay after the Friday night screening for a discussion with Ohio State’s Vera Brunner-Sung (Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre) and Johanna Sellman (Assistant Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures).
