Small-town Finnish kids dreaming of rock stardom? This is ABBA's depressing cousin.
Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.
Acting
The young leads capture that desperate small-town hunger perfectly.
Direction
Bagher balances 60s nostalgia with crushing present-day regret.
Score
Original music that actually sounds like a Finnish garage band failing upward.
Director
Reza Bagher
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tornedalen represents Sweden's forgotten Finnish-speaking minority; the film's bilingual tension mirrors the characters' split lives.
Director Reza Bagher, of Iranian origin, chose this specifically Swedish-Finnish border story — an outsider's eye on Nordic identity crisis.
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