MFAH Film New Releases: The Other Side of Hope

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents another in its New Releases series. Enjoy these critically acclaimed, award-winning international films as they make their Houston debut!

The Other Side of Hope

Directed by Aki Kaurismaki
Released  2017
Country  Finland/Germany
Running Time  98 minutes
(in Finnish, English, Arabic, and Swedish with English subtitles)

This wry, melancholic comedy from Aki Kaurismäki—whose films the MFAH has premiered for more than three decades—speaks to the current refugee situation.

Khaled (Sherwan Haji), a displaced Syrian, lands in Helsinki as a stowaway.  Meanwhile, middle-aged salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves behind his wife and job and improbably buys a seafood restaurant.  Despite being denied asylum, Khaled remains in Finland, and the paths of the two men cross fortuitously.

A bittersweet tale of human kindness, The Other Side of Hope is as deadpan as the best of the director’s work, with a deep well of empathy for its down-but-not-out characters—many of them played by members of Kaurismäki’s ever-reliable stock company.