La Vie de Bohème(Boheemielämää)

Three down-on-their-luck artists – a French writer, an Albanian painter, and an Irish composer – live the bohemian life in 1960s Paris, which looks like the forgotten fringes of Helsinki. Acquainted with poverty and starvation, they always manage to buy a drink, drive a vintage car, and get into romantic relationships. In his vibrantly scrappy adaptation shot in gorgeous black and white, Aki makes a laid-back and coolly funny update of his beloved Henri Murger novel. Featuring cameos by Louis Malle and Samuel Fuller, this deceptively querulous comedy satirises the conventions of art and romance, while exalting them as the only means of salvation.

Berlin International Film Festival: FIPRESCI Prize