The most successful director in Finland
The Tough Ones (1999) was one of the key factors in the recent rise of the Finnish cinema, with an audience of 330,000. The Tough Ones was the Finnish Entry for Oscar 1999 as "Best Foreign Language Film".
The biggest domestic box office hit ever, Bad Boys, drew a phenomenal audience of 615,000. After that, Vares - Private Eye was also the number one domestic movie of its release year 2004.
Mäkelä's next movie Matti - Hell is for Heroes was the most popular film in Finland in 2006 with an audience of 462,000. Matti is still number two Finnish box office hit since the eighties.
The next number one domestic box office hit in Mäkelä's career was Hellsinki in 2009.
Home Sweet Home is his tenth feature film. His debut The Romanov Stones was released in 1993.
His movies have collected eleven Finnish Film Awards (Jussi Award) and five Most Popular Movie of the Year Awards.
An exceptional tribute happened to Aleksi Mäkelä in 2009 when he was awarded The State Prize for Cinema.
The movies
directed by
Aleksi Mäkelä:
Home Sweet Home, 2011
Hellsinki, 2009
Don't even dream about it (Älä unta nää), TV, 2008
V2 - Dead Angel, 2007
Matti, 2006
Vares - Private Eye, 2004
Bad Boys, 2003
The South, 2000
There’s a Satan in the House, TV, 1999
The Tough Ones, 1999
Sunset Riders, 1994
The Romanov Stones, 1993
I Was Just About to Leave, tv, 1990
1249 km, TV, 1989
Finnish Movie Awards of movies directed by Aleksi Mäkelä (11):
Hellsinki: best supporting actor Peter Franzén, best set design Pirjo Rossi, best costume design Tiina Kaukanen.
Vares: best editing, Kimmo Taavila Bad Boys: best photography, Pini Hellsted, best sound design, Jyrki Rahkonen
The South: best actress, Outi Mäenpää
The Tough Ones: best actor in a supporting role, Kalevi Haapoja
Sunset Riders: best direction, Aleksi Mäkelä, best actor, Juha Veijonen
The Romanov Stones: best sound design, Paul Jyrälä