Pekka Lehto is a Finnish film director and producer. He is best known for directing and producing the critically acclaimed film The Other Side of Hope (2017) and the critically acclaimed television series Bordertown (2016–2020).
Lehto was born on August 5, 1969, in Tampere, Finland. He studied film directing at the University of Tampere and graduated in 1994. After that, he worked as an assistant director for several years, before directing his first short film, The 10th Day (1998). The film was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and it won the FIPRESCI Prize.
Lehto's feature film directing debut was the drama movie Eight Deadly Shots (2002). His second feature film, Lights in the Dusk (2006), was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. His third feature film, Lapland Odyssey (2010), was a box office success in his native Finland and it won several awards, including five Jussi Awards.
In 2016, Lehto directed and produced the critically acclaimed television series Bordertown. The series, set in a fictional Finnish town near the Russian border, follows the lives of the local police and the people living in the town. The series earned Lehto two nominations for Best Drama Series at the Nordic Television Awards.
In 2017, Lehto directed and produced the critically acclaimed film The Other Side of Hope, which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film follows a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland, and a struggling restaurant owner who is trying to turn his life around.
Today, Lehto is one of Finland's most important filmmakers. He has won numerous awards, including the Jussi Award, and his films have been screened at numerous international film festivals. He is also a member of the Finnish Film Directors Association.
