The Prayer

With background from both fiction and documentary Heli Tamminen (screenwriter), Ulrika Bengst (director) and Essi Haukkamaa (producer) started working together in 2016. They describe Prayer as a tale about children who create their own morals in the absence of adults. Iris (12) and Mikael (12) are living on an island between two battlegrounds. Their life is filled with fear and loss, yet they seem to escape the horrors by creating their own imaginary worlds. The game turns into a scary one, as they start experimenting with prayer, and the subsequent acts of penance. Trying to relieve the guilt they only end up in deeper trouble. The key for absolution lies in drawing the line between imagination and reality.