Award-winning film director Maunu Kurkvaara has died

Maunu Kurkvaara has died at the age of 97.

Maunu Kurkvaara has died. JUHA TÖRMÄLÄ/KL

Film director, cinematographer and painter Maunu Kurkvaara has died at the age of 97.

The matter is confirmed to STT by Kurkvaara’s daughter. The director’s cause of death has not been disclosed to the public so far.

Kurkvaara, born in Vyborg, is known for his classic films of the 1960s and 1970s, among other things Alley runu, Private sectore and Sea party – movies. Kurkvaara’s last long film directions were The taste of success (1983) and A butterfly’s dream (1986). Kurkvaara’s last short film directions are on the other hand Time for sails in Finland (1989) and A story about a lost island (1993).

He received the Jussi award for his 1962 film Rakas. In addition, in 2018, Kurkvaara was awarded the Betoni-Jussi lifetime achievement award for domestic cinema.

During his lifetime, Kurkvaara directed 20 feature films between 1955 and 1986. The central themes of the director’s films were, among other things, pacifism and the possibilities of happiness and the difficulty of the choices that lead to it.

Kurkvaara was awarded, among other things, the Jussi award. JUHA TÖRMÄLÄ/KL

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