The Man Without a Past
written, directed and produced by the Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki
(Finland, Germany, France, 2002)

In this film urban violence opens the way for the celebrated Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki to tell the story of a survivor - The Man Without a Past. The film also won the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival 2002.

The Templeton European Film of the Year is presented on behalf of the US-based prestigious Templeton Foundation by the international interchurch film organisation INTERFILM and the Conference of European Churches (CEC). The prize includes a cheque for CHF 10,000 and an inscribed certificate. It is awarded to films which

- have high artistic merit;
- lend expression to a human viewpoint in keeping with the message of the Scripture, or which stimulate debate;
- make audience sensitive to spiritual and social values and questions.

The Man Without a Past is a story which includes depths of tenderness and moments of humour. It is a parable of the birth of a socially deprived community inspired by the rebirth of an individual, thrust into the almost total deprivation of his memory. The film features the celebrated Finnish actor Markku Peltola as the victim and actress Kati Outinen as the Salvation Army worker who inspires the man without a past to begin the climb back to personal and social dignity.
The film conveys a deep knowledge and understanding of human relationships and their closeness to such biblical themes as death and resurrection, poverty and greed, selfishness and selfgiving; the story is simple and direct avoiding all tangents in its telling.

The international jury consisted of three members of INTERFILM. They considered three films in their final reckoning. These were The Son/Le Fils, by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium (highly commended by the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes), and War Photographer, a Swiss production  featuring the famous photographer James Nachtwey, by the Swiss film maker Christian Frei (named as film of the month by the ”Jury der Evangelischen Filmarbeit” in Germany and the Reformierte Medien/Katholischer Mediendienst in Switzerland), and The Man Without a Past, by Aki Kaurismäki.