Markku Pölönen is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 film director, screenwriter, editor and owner of film production company Suomen Filmiteollisuus

Suomen Filmiteollisuus

Suomen Filmiteollisuus , lit. Finland's Film Industry, is a Finnish film production company founded by Erkki Karu in 1933 after financial problems with Suomi-Filmi. The CEO, director, producer and writer T.J. Särkkä was a central figure in Suomen Filmiteollisuus. Among others, the film director...

. Pölönen's best known work is the 2004 film Dog Nail Clipper

Dog Nail Clipper

Dog Nail Clipper is a 2004 Finnish film directed by Markku Pölönen and starring Peter Franzén and Taisto Reimaluoto. The film is an adaptation of Finnish author Veikko Huovinen's 1980 novel of the same name....

— directed and written by Pölönen — which was honoured with five awards at the 2005 Jussi Awards including Best Direction and Best Script and which film critic Jay Weissberg from Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

called Pölönen's "most mature work to date". Pölönen has been awarded an additional four Jussi awards while being nominated for two more.

Select filmography

Year	Film	Credit
1998	A Summer by the River A Summer by the River A Summer by the River is a 1998 Finnish film written and directed by Markku Pölönen. The film is set in the 1950s Finland and tells the story of father Tenho and son Topi after Tenho's wife — Topi's mother — dies and leaves the two men unable to pay rent...	Director, writer
2001	On the Road to Emmaus On the Road to Emmaus On the Road to Emmaus is a 2001 Finnish musical film written and directed by Markku Pölönen. With themes and title borrowed from of the New Testament, the film tells the story of Rane , a cynical real estate agent living in Helsinki, who returns to the small village where he was born in order to...	Director, writer
2004	Dog Nail Clipper Dog Nail Clipper Dog Nail Clipper is a 2004 Finnish film directed by Markku Pölönen and starring Peter Franzén and Taisto Reimaluoto. The film is an adaptation of Finnish author Veikko Huovinen's 1980 novel of the same name....	Director, screenwriter
2007	The Matriarch The Matriarch (film) The Matriarch is a 2007 Finnish comedy-drama film written, directed and edited by Markku Pölönen and produced by the Pölönen-owned film production company Suomen Filmiteollisuus.-Plot:...	Director, writer, editor
2009	Rally On!	Director, writer, editor

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