Paradise Is Burning

Being 16 years old is not that easy, especially when your mother is not around and you have to take care of your two younger sisters. It described the life of Laura, who lives with Mira and Steffi in a working-class area of Sweden. Unattended, she lives a wild and carefree, almost anarchic life. Young, wild and free - until social services casts a dark shadow over their lives. The feeling of total freedom is soon matched by the harsh reality of growing up.

Swedish director Mika Gustafson makes a declaration of love to sisterhood and deals with the transience of life: "I want to show what it’s like to be a human being in those moments when euphoric freedom lies cheek to cheek with total despair.” The chaos of existence therefore oozes off the screen, and it makes Gustafson's feature debut a clever and touching coming-of-age.