Fallen Leaves wins FIPRESCI Grand Prix

Aki Kaurismäki takes annual international critics' prize for a second time

by Amber Wilkinson

Fallen Leaves
Fallen Leaves Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival

FIPRESCI has announced that Aki Kaurismäki's Fallen Leaves will receive the Grand Prix for the Best Film of the Year. The film follows the story 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.

This is the second time the Finnish director will have won the award given annually by the International Federation of Film Critics, which was voted on by 669 members.

The other two finalists were The Banshees Of Inisherin, by Martin McDonagh, and Tár, by Todd Field, which 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.

Fallen Leaves premiered at Cannes this spring, where it carried off the Jury Prize. Kaurismäki previously won the award in 2017 for The Other Side Of Hope.

The FIPRESCI Grand Prix will be presented on September 22 at the opening gala of San Sebastian’s 71st Festival.

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