Paradise Is Burning (Paradiset Brinner) | BFI Film Academy RecommendsParadise Is Burning (Paradiset Brinner) | BFI Film Academy Recommends

Paradise Is Burning is a 2023 drama co-written and directed by Mika Gustafson, in her fictional feature debut.

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 their absent mother. With summer on the way and no parents around, life is wild and carefree, vivacious and anarchic. But when social services call a meeting, Laura has to find someone to impersonate their mother, 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.

Mika Gustafson | Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Finland | 2023 | 108 mins | Subtitled | 15

BFI Film Academy Recommends delivered by Nerve Centre are short and feature film recommendations for young, aspiring screen creatives aged 16–25. Supported with National Lottery funding.