Mika Kaurismäki was born in September 1955 in Finland. After the high school he used to work as a painter of houses and apartments in a small town of Kuusankoski in the Southeastern part of Finland. He studied cinema in Munich, Germany (Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen) between 1977–1981 and made his diploma film The Liar in 1980 in Finland. His younger brother Aki Kaurismäki, then a student of journalism, played the main role and also co-wrote the screenplay. Both Mika and Aki started to produce their films through their own production companies. Mika founded Marianna Films in 1987 and its first independent production was the award winning Zombie and the Ghost Train (1991). In 1994 Mika returned to the Brazilian jungle with Samuel Fuller and Jim Jarmusch and made the feature length documentary Tigrero – a film that was never made. The film was awarded the International Critics’ Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1994. In the course of the 90’s Mika established his base and second home in Rio de Janeiro and started to concentrate more in international co-productions. His biggest production so far is the comedy LA Without a Map (1998), with David Tennant, Julie Delpy, Vincent Gallo, Johnny Depp, James Le Gros, Anouk Aimee, Joe Dallesandro etc. The new millenium started for Mika with the production of Sound of Brazil (2002), the praised documentary of Brazilian music. In 2003 he co-founded the production company Stamina Media GmbH in Germany in order to produce Honey Baby.

» interview with Mika Kaurismäki from Isola Cinema 2004 festival

filmography (selection):
• 1981 Valehtelija/The Liar (Lažnivec)
• 1982 Arvottomat/The Worthless (Nicvredneži)
• 1984 Klaani – tarina Sammakoitten suvusta/The Clan – Tale Of The Frogs (Klan – Zgodba o družini Žaba)
• 1985 Rosso
• 1987 Helsinki Napoli – All Night Long (Helsinki Napoli)
• 1989 Papentähti/Paper Star, Cha Cha Cha (Papirnata zvezda)
• 1990 Amazon (Amazonka)
• 1991 Zombi ja kummitusjuna/Zombie And The Ghost Train (Zombi in vlak duhov)
• 1993 The Last Border (Poslednja meja)
• 1994 Tigrero – elokuva joka ei valmistunot/Tigrero – A Film That Was Never Made (Tigrero – film, ki ni bil nikoli posnet)
• 1995 Hälytystila/Condition Red (Rdeci alarm)
• 1998 Los Angeles Without A Map (V Los Angelesu brez zemljevida)
• 1999 Highway Society (Potujoca družba)
• 2002 Moro No Brasil/The Sound of Brazil (Zvoki Brazilije)
• 2003 Honey Baby (in post-production/v postprodukciji)