After a recent and difficult divorce, Stockholm-based Alice hasn’t seen her children in two months, as her ex-husband who lives in Northern Sweden with them, has barred her from seeing them. While waiting for the final custody verdict, she gets a phone call in the middle of the night, from her distressed son Vincent. She rushes to Northern Sweden to see him and his sister Elina. When her hopes of reconciliation with her children are dashed upon arrival, she abducts them and embarks on an illicit trip to Tenerife to try to reconnect with them.
The Nominees: Screenwriter/director Amanda Kernell, producers Lars G. Lindströmand and Eva Åkergren
National Jury's motivation: By way of a contemporaneous and emotional custody case, Amanda Kernell portrays the complexity of life and close relationships as if taking place in a mirror. The children looking at the adults. The adults looking at themselves. Through exquisite personal direction, the detailed story deepens and evolves into an uplifting drama without any definite answers. From the icy winter evenings in Northern Sweden to the sultry nights in Tenerife, Kernell – in collaboration with photographer Sophia Olsson – creates an image-based film that reverberates with viewers long after the final credits.
National Jury: Kristina Börjeson, Emma Gray Munthe, Gunnar Bergdahl