Alma Poysti Is ‘Honored’ That ‘Fallen Leaves’ Movie Resonates Globally

Alma Pöysti is feeling grateful for all the support her film, Fallen Leaves, has received across the world.

“It was such a big honor, a huge honor,” Pöysti, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly about her Golden Globes nomination while on the Sunday, January 7, red carpet. “To see that our humble Finnish love story really speaks to people far away from our country.”

Fallen Leaves is a Finnish-German romantic comedy-drama that stars Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen and is directed by Aki Kaurismäki. The movie follows Pöysti and Vatanen’s characters, Ansa and Holappa, who work at a grocery store in Helsinki. The duo are both lonely and after connecting during one shift, they decide to pursue a relationship.

At the time of filming, Pöysti knew they had made something special with Fallen Leaves. However, she didn’t think that the movie would gather praise on an international circuit.

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“I didn’t realize these adventures would come,” the film feels like a very important story we need right now that [gives] people comfort in the quite rough times we’re living in right now.”

Pöysti believes that the world needs more “compassionate” and “caring” movies right now. One recent movie she also thoroughly enjoyed was the Barbie movie, so much so that she saw the blockbuster “twice.”

Pöysti was up for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 81st Golden Globes. She competed against Margot Robbie (Barbie), Emma Stone (Poor Things), Jennifer Lawrence (No Hard Feelings) and Fantasia Barrino in The Color Purple. Stone, 35, ultimately took home the award.

Ahead of the award show, Pöysti opened up about how the recognition from Hollywood has impacted her career.

“If great scripts and interesting people come along, then so be it,” she explained to Finnish outlet Yle in an interview published on Sunday. “But not a career. It’s going in the wrong direction. You have to focus on the essentials, the story.”

Fallen Leaves was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language. However, the movie lost to Anatomy of a Fall.

Despite not winning a Golden Globe, Fallen Leaves did receive a recent honor. On Saturday, January 6, the National Society of Film Critics selected the picture as the best non-English language film of 2023.

Fallen Leaves has been making its rounds at several awards shows. The film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival where it was up for a Palme d’Or. While Anatomy of a Fall also took home the prestigious award, Fallen Leaves was awarded the festival’s jury prize. Fallen Leaves is currently on the shortlist for the 96th Academy Awards. The official Oscar nominees will be announced on January 23.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi