Leningrad Cowboys Go America
TITLE
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
DIRECTOR
Aki Kaurismäki
COUNTRY
Finland, Sweden
YEAR
1989
DURATION
78′
GENRE
Mockumentary, Music
Overview

Leningrad Cowboys Go America
The Leningrad Cowboys, a fictional Russian rock band, and their manager, travel to America seeking fame and fortune. As they cross the country, trying to get to a wedding in Mexico, they are followed by the village idiot, who wishes to join the band.

DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Aki Kaurismäki
Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll. In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).
Credits
- Director Aki Kaurismäki
- Screenplay Aki Kaurismäki, Sakke Järvenpää, Mato Valtonen
- Cinematography Timo Salminen
- Editing Raija Talvio
- Cast Matti Pellonpää, Sakke Järvenpää, Kari Väänänen, Heikki Keskin, Pimme Korhonenen
- Producer/s Katinka Faragó, Aki Kaurismäki, Klas Olofsson
- Production Company Villealfa Filmproductions, Svenska Filminstitutet
- Distributor/s The Match Factory, Finnkino
Specifications
- Project Title Leningrad Cowboys Go America
- Project Type Mockumentary, Music
- Completion Date March 24, 1989
- Country of origin Finland, Sweden
- Country of filming USA
- Language English, Finnish
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student Project No

Aki Kaurismäki
Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll. In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).
SELECTIONS & AWARDS

Tirana International Film Festival
Special Screening, 2022