Aku Louhimies

Directing

Aku Louhimies

Born

1968-07-03 (58)

Place of birth

Helsinki, Finland

Known for

Directing

Credits

37 titles

Aku Urban Louhimies (born 3 July 1968) is a Finnish film director, writer and producer. His films include Restless (2000), Frozen Land (2005), 8-Ball (2013) and The Unknown Soldier (2017). He also directed historical drama miniseries Rebellion (2016).

Known for

The Wait poster
6.1

The idyllic and secluded Finnish archipelago. The pandemic soars across the world. Elli’s world trembles as her husband’s old friend arrives at the island.

The Wait

2022

Unknown Soldier poster
7.4

The film follows Finnish army machine gun company in Continuation War against Soviet Union, 1941–1944. Based on Väinö Linna's best selling novel Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) and the novel's uncensored version, Sotaromaani (A War Novel).

Unknown Soldier

2017

Attack on Finland poster
5.6

The reception for Finland's Independence Day is rudely interrupted when the presidential palace is attacked and the state leadership is taken hostage. Max Tanner of the Security Police is appointed as a negotiator in the hostage crisis, that unfolds as part of a bigger plan to undermine European security.

Attack on Finland

2021

The Dinosaur poster
5.8

Acclaimed Finnish director Rauni Mollberg made several scandalous yet widely appreciated films. Former co-worker Veikko Aaltonen’s eye-opening documentary The Dinosaur looks at the relentless, often disturbing directing techniques behind Mollberg’s art and success.

The Dinosaur

2021

Naked Harbour poster
5.8

In a multicultural suburb of Helsinki, a bullied Russian immigrant decides to fight back, a young woman dreams of superstardom at any cost, and a junkie couple schemes their way out of debt.

Naked Harbour

2012

Lapland War poster
NR

Young soldier Heikki fights on the Karelian Isthmus alongside his friend Pauli. Arvo, recently released from prison, joins the company, challenging the others' views on war and duty with his worldview. The ceasefire raises hopes of returning home, but it soon becomes clear that Finland must turn against its former German allies in Lapland. At the same time, Saara, who works as a German interpreter in Rovaniemi, must choose her future: stay in Finland or flee to Germany with her beloved, Major Duisberg.

Lapland War

2026

Film credits

Behind the camera

The Wait poster
6.1

The idyllic and secluded Finnish archipelago. The pandemic soars across the world. Elli’s world trembles as her husband’s old friend arrives at the island.

The Wait

2022

The Wait poster
6.1

The idyllic and secluded Finnish archipelago. The pandemic soars across the world. Elli’s world trembles as her husband’s old friend arrives at the island.

The Wait

2022

The Wait poster
6.1

The idyllic and secluded Finnish archipelago. The pandemic soars across the world. Elli’s world trembles as her husband’s old friend arrives at the island.

The Wait

2022

Unknown Soldier poster
7.4

The film follows Finnish army machine gun company in Continuation War against Soviet Union, 1941–1944. Based on Väinö Linna's best selling novel Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) and the novel's uncensored version, Sotaromaani (A War Novel).

Unknown Soldier

2017

Unknown Soldier poster
7.4

The film follows Finnish army machine gun company in Continuation War against Soviet Union, 1941–1944. Based on Väinö Linna's best selling novel Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) and the novel's uncensored version, Sotaromaani (A War Novel).

Unknown Soldier

2017

Unknown Soldier poster
7.4

The film follows Finnish army machine gun company in Continuation War against Soviet Union, 1941–1944. Based on Väinö Linna's best selling novel Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) and the novel's uncensored version, Sotaromaani (A War Novel).

Unknown Soldier

2017

Attack on Finland poster
5.6

The reception for Finland's Independence Day is rudely interrupted when the presidential palace is attacked and the state leadership is taken hostage. Max Tanner of the Security Police is appointed as a negotiator in the hostage crisis, that unfolds as part of a bigger plan to undermine European security.

Attack on Finland

2021

Naked Harbour poster
5.8

In a multicultural suburb of Helsinki, a bullied Russian immigrant decides to fight back, a young woman dreams of superstardom at any cost, and a junkie couple schemes their way out of debt.

Naked Harbour

2012

Naked Harbour poster
5.8

In a multicultural suburb of Helsinki, a bullied Russian immigrant decides to fight back, a young woman dreams of superstardom at any cost, and a junkie couple schemes their way out of debt.

Naked Harbour

2012

Lapland War poster
NR

Young soldier Heikki fights on the Karelian Isthmus alongside his friend Pauli. Arvo, recently released from prison, joins the company, challenging the others' views on war and duty with his worldview. The ceasefire raises hopes of returning home, but it soon becomes clear that Finland must turn against its former German allies in Lapland. At the same time, Saara, who works as a German interpreter in Rovaniemi, must choose her future: stay in Finland or flee to Germany with her beloved, Major Duisberg.

Lapland War

2026

Lapland War poster
NR

Young soldier Heikki fights on the Karelian Isthmus alongside his friend Pauli. Arvo, recently released from prison, joins the company, challenging the others' views on war and duty with his worldview. The ceasefire raises hopes of returning home, but it soon becomes clear that Finland must turn against its former German allies in Lapland. At the same time, Saara, who works as a German interpreter in Rovaniemi, must choose her future: stay in Finland or flee to Germany with her beloved, Major Duisberg.

Lapland War

2026

Lapland War poster
NR

Young soldier Heikki fights on the Karelian Isthmus alongside his friend Pauli. Arvo, recently released from prison, joins the company, challenging the others' views on war and duty with his worldview. The ceasefire raises hopes of returning home, but it soon becomes clear that Finland must turn against its former German allies in Lapland. At the same time, Saara, who works as a German interpreter in Rovaniemi, must choose her future: stay in Finland or flee to Germany with her beloved, Major Duisberg.

Lapland War

2026

No artwork available
NR

Anthology film with segment by Asif Kapadia

Uneternal City

The Unhanged poster
3.0

The Finland of the future has gone mad. A bored young woman, Viola, gets a brilliant idea. She decides to fool the infamous Lone Rider and his sidekick Tonto. Viola makes a wanted poster of herself, and assumes the identity of a highwayman named Gonzales. Viola/Gonzales surrenders to a quirky bandit duo, who now believe they will be well rewarded for bringing this outlaw to authorities. As the pair is taking Gonzales to the gallows, they get lost in the desert. A day's journey turns into an adventure that tests the trio's physical resilience and mental maturity.

The Unhanged

2023

Frozen City poster
5.3

Looking to outrun the horrors of his past, a tormented cabbie flees Helsinki for an apartment complex in the suburbs, only to discover that new neighbors bring new problems. What ensues is a raw, realistic tragedy with an unwaveringly humane core.

Frozen City

2006

Tears of April poster
5.8

There is civil war in Finland between "Whites" and "Reds". A woman soldier of the Reds is captured by the Whites. She is ordered to be executed. A lieutenant is enforced into a homosexual relationship with his commanding officer to save the Red female with whom he is infatuated.

Tears of April

2008

The Eternal Road poster
6.6

Jussi Ketola, returns to Finland from the great depression struck America only to face growing political unrest. One summer night of 1930, nationalist thugs violently abduct Ketola from his home. Beaten and forced to walk the Eternal Road towards a foreign Soviet Russia, where cruelty seems to know no end, his only dream is to return to his family cost it what it may. Hope dies last.

The Eternal Road

2017

Restless poster
5.1

Ari, a paramedic, is a chronic womanizer; he makes it a point of pride to never sleep with the same woman twice, and his nights are a long series of brazen one-night stands. But when Ari meets Tiina, something unexpected happens – he falls in love.

Restless

2000

No artwork available
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Juna

1996

No artwork available
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Juna

1996

Frozen Land poster
6.8

When a schoolteacher is sacked, he projects his bad mood at his troubled teenage son. The son, in turn, buys a CD player from a pawnshop with counterfeit money. This starts a chain reaction of misery as every victim projects his problems on to another person.

Frozen Land

2005

Frozen Land poster
6.8

When a schoolteacher is sacked, he projects his bad mood at his troubled teenage son. The son, in turn, buys a CD player from a pawnshop with counterfeit money. This starts a chain reaction of misery as every victim projects his problems on to another person.

Frozen Land

2005

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero poster
4.2

An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero

2011

No artwork available
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Sirpaleita

1995

No artwork available
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Sirpaleita

1995

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Ensi tiistaina Brahmsia

1997

No artwork available
NR

A Russian reconnaissance aircraft collides with a Finnish passenger plane over the Gulf of Finland. At the same time unexplained sabotage and cyberattacks cut off electricity and communications across the country. The Finns are left in the dark without news, electricity or heating, while freezing cold turns their dwellings into death traps.

Jäätyvä helvetti

8-Ball poster
5.8

8-Ball tells the story of single mother Pike who, having just been released from prison, is trying to start her life anew. When her former boyfriend Lalli comes back from abroad, it opens a window into a past that Pike wants to put behind her.

8-Ball

2013

Enemies Within poster
5.0

Short film by Oskari Sipola

Enemies Within

2009

Man Exposed poster
5.3

A story of a priest, who considers himself as a rebel is suddenly asked to run for bishop of Turku.

Man Exposed

2006

Lovers & Leavers poster
4.8

This movie is about Iiris Vaara. She turns 30 and meets young director Marko. All dreams come true but does Marko share her dreams?

Lovers & Leavers

2002

Lovers & Leavers poster
4.8

This movie is about Iiris Vaara. She turns 30 and meets young director Marko. All dreams come true but does Marko share her dreams?

Lovers & Leavers

2002

No artwork available
NR

Vatanen has had enough of his job, his wife, his whole urban lifestyle. One day, without warning, he leaves everything behind and heads out into the wilderness accompanied by a rabbit he found on the side of the road.

Jäniksen vuosi

No artwork available
NR

Vatanen has had enough of his job, his wife, his whole urban lifestyle. One day, without warning, he leaves everything behind and heads out into the wilderness accompanied by a rabbit he found on the side of the road.

Jäniksen vuosi

No artwork available
NR

Vatanen has had enough of his job, his wife, his whole urban lifestyle. One day, without warning, he leaves everything behind and heads out into the wilderness accompanied by a rabbit he found on the side of the road.

Jäniksen vuosi