Mika Gustafson grabs Best Director Award at Venice Orizzonti

Paradise is Burning (Paradiset brinner) was among 18 films competing at Venice’s sidebar dedicated to innovative works and first-time filmmakers.

Gustafson also won best director in the collateral ‘Authors under 40 Award’ in Venice.
The tale of sisterhood, transience of time and life of three young girls left home alone, is Gustafson first full-length feature film, co-written with actor-screenwriter Alexander Öhrstrand. Read our interview with the director here: Paradise is Burning’s Mika Gustafson on creating a poetic, playful and punk movi

Its next festival stops are FilmFest Hamburg where it has the honour to close the event, October 7, and the BFI London Film Festival where it will screen in the first feature competition.

The film will be released in Sweden October 27 by TriArt. Intramovies handles sales.

Meanwhile the Danish epic The Promised Land by Nikolaj Arcel which screened in Venice’s main competition programme received a Special Mention from the SIGNIS Award (World Catholic Association for Communication).