Paradise is Burning
TITLE
Paradise is Burning
DIRECTOR
Mika Gustafson
COUNTRY
Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy
YEAR
2023
DURATION
108′
GENRE
Drama, Comedy
Overview

Paradise is Burning
A working-class area in Sweden. Laura (16), Mira (12) and Steffi (7), live alone, as their mother is often gone. When social services demand a meeting, Laura must find someone to play their mom, to avoid foster care and the three sisters being separated. Laura keeps this a secret, as not to worry her younger sisters, but frictions arise with the meeting inching closer, hanging them on a thin line between the euphoria of freedom and the depths of discomfort.

DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Mika Gustafson
Mika was born in Linköping, Sweden on April 25th, 1988. In 2016 she graduated from Valand Film Academy. The same year, she received the Nordic Talents prize in Copenhagen. Her graduation film Mephobia, won Iconoclastic prize at the Torino film festival and Best Actor at Premiere Plans. Her documentary Silvana was awarded at the National film awards for best documentary in 2017. She was granted her own exhibition at Centre d’Art Contemporain de Genève. She was part of the Dragon Award Jury at Gothenburg International Film Festival (2019) and was selected to Berlinale Script Station in 2020 with her fellow scriptwriter Alexander Öhrstrand. Paradise is Burning is her first fiction feature.
Credits
- DirectorMika Gustafson
- ScreenplayMIKA GUSTAFSON, ALEXANDER ÖHRSTRAND
- Cinematography SINE VADSTRUP BROOKER
- CastBIANCA DELBRAVO, DILVIN ASAAD, SAFIRA MOSSBERG, IDA ENGVOLL, MITJA SIREN, MARTA OLDENBURG
- EditingANDERS SKOV
- Producer/s Nima Yousefi
- Production CompanyHOBAB
- Distributor/s Intramovies Sales Agent Worldwide All Rights
- Project TitleParadise is Burning
- Project TypeFiction
- Completion Date 1 January 2023
- Country of originSweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy
- Country of filmingSweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy
- LanguageSwedish
- First-time Filmmaker Yes
- Student ProjectNo

Mika Gustafson
Mika was born in Linköping, Sweden on April 25th, 1988. In 2016 she graduated from Valand Film Academy. The same year, she received the Nordic Talents prize in Copenhagen. Her graduation film Mephobia, won Iconoclastic prize at the Torino film festival and Best Actor at Premiere Plans. Her documentary Silvana was awarded at the National film awards for best documentary in 2017. She was granted her own exhibition at Centre d’Art Contemporain de Genève. She was part of the Dragon Award Jury at Gothenburg International Film Festival (2019) and was selected to Berlinale Script Station in 2020 with her fellow scriptwriter Alexander Öhrstrand. Paradise is Burning is her first fiction feature.