Always Amber
Dir. Lia Hietala, Hannah Reinikainen / Sweden / 2020 / 75’ / Warsaw premiere
Section:
Becoming Oneself
Directors: Lia Hietala, Hannah Reinikainen
Cinematography: Lia Hietala, Sara Thisner Lindstedt, Amber Mastracci, Luciano Mastracci, Alma Mastracci
Editing: Hannah Reinikainen, Lia Hietala, Anton Hemgren, Charlotte Landelius
Sound: Fredrik Strålne
Music: Shitkid
Producers: Göran Hugo Olsson, Melissa Lindgren
Production: Story AB in co-production with: Sveriges Television
World sales: Réservoir Docs
Language: Swedish, Italian
Website: https://reservoirdocs.net/films/always-amber/
CREDITS
DESCRIPTION
Seventeen-year-old Amber and best friend Sebastian refuse to let society label their gender. Moving through a spectrum of fluid identities, they dream together, party together, and form friendships with likeminded people. The queer teenagers inhabit an open and loving world far away from the judging eyes of others, in which everything seems possible. But when Amber falls in love with Charlie, their utopian world is shaken to its core. Trust issues begin to emerge, and in the midst of it all, Amber has to face going through their transition alone.
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Berlinale, Hot Docs, Bergen International Film Festival, Helsinki International Film Festival, Nordisk Panorama, Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Seoul International Women Film Festival (Best Feature Award), New York LGBTQ+, Oslo/Fusion Film Festival, Queer Porto, Chéries Chéris, Mix Copenhagen, BIFF, Queer Lisboa, Demakijaż - Festiwal Kina Kobiet (Polish premiere)
DIRECTOR
Lia Hietala
Born 1993 in Stockholm, Lia Hietala first started out as director’s assistant to Swedish director Ninja Thyberg in 2014. She has since then directed two fictional short films: “If I Say No” (2016) and “My Gay Sister” (2017). “My Gay Sister” became a big international success and won the prestigious TEDDY Award at Berlinale, world’s most important queer film award. During the fall of 2018 she started her bachelor in Fine Arts at Konstfack, University of Arts, Crafts & Design. “Always Amber” (2020) is her first feature film produced by Göran Hugo Olsson at Story AB.
Hannah Reinikainen
Hannah Reinikainen was born 1992 in Stockholm, Sweden. She has been studying Journalism at the University of Stockholm and Documentary Filmmaking at Biskops Arnö. She has also been working as an editor and directed two short films: “Nybohovsbacken” (2016) and “She only beat the one she loves” (2017). “Always Amber” is her first feature film.
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