Paradise is Burning

In a working-class area of Sweden, sisters Laura (16), Mira (12), and Steffi (7) get by on their own, left to their own devices by an absent mother. With summer on the way and no parents around, life is wild and carefree. But when social services call a meeting, Laura has to find someone to impersonate their mom, or the girls will be taken into foster care and separated. Laura keeps the threat a secret so as not to worry her younger sisters. But as the moment of truth draws closer, new tensions arise, forcing the three sisters to negotiate the fine line between the euphoria of total freedom and the harsh realities of growing up. In the director’s words, Paradise is Burning “is a declaration of love to sisterhood. [A film] about the transience of time and life. About memories and reconciliation”.