Fallen Leaves, directed by Aki Kaurismäki, has won the FIPRESCI Grand Prix after having been chosen best film of 2023 by the members of the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI. The vote had the participation of 669 critics from all over the world, who chose this Finnish and German production from among all films released after 1 July 2022.
The other two finalists were The Banshees of Inisherin, by Martin McDonagh, and Tár, by Todd Field, both premiered at the 2022 Venice Festival, where they respectively bagged the Volpi Cup for Best Actor going to Colin Farrell and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress going to Cate Blanchett.
Kuolleet lehdet / Fallen Leaves premiered at the last Festival de Cannes, where it carried off the Jury Prize. This is the second time that Kaurismäki will have received this recognition from the international critics, which went in 2017 to Toivo tuolla puolen / The Other Side of Hope.
Since its creation in 1999, the FIPRESCI Grand Prix has gone to big-name moviemakers including Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alfonso Cuarón, Jean-Luc Godard, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Michael Haneke, Richard Linklater, George Miller and Chloé Zhao, to name but a few.
The FIPRESCI Grand Prix will be presented on September 22 at the opening gala of San Sebastian’s 71st Festival. As recently announced, Kuolleet lehdet / Fallen Leaves will also screen in the Perlak section.
Fallen Leaves will be released in Spain on 29 December by Avalon.
Kuolleet lehdet / Fallen Leaves
Aki Kaurismäki (Finland)
Country(ies) of production: Finland – Germany
Cast:Alma Poysti, Jussi Vatanen
The tale of two lonely people who run into one another by chance one night in Helsinki and try to find the first, only and ultimate love of their lives. Their road towards this honorable goal will be overshadowed by the man’s drinking, lost phone numbers and life’s general tendency to throw curveballs on the path of those looking for happiness.