Two teenagers, three cameras, four years. This is one way to summarize the approach Almost foreverThe new film by director duo Lia Hietala and Hanna Rinikkainen (Always amber), which follows the teens’ coming of age in Stockholm, Sweden and its world premiere at the 23rd edition of CPH:DOX in Copenhagen on Saturday, March 14.
The complexities of youth, including identity, friendship, love, belonging, and healing, are among the themes the documentary explores. Almost forever Follows teenagers Yasmine and Philip over five “transformational” years, synopsis highlights. “Against the backdrop of a diverse group of friends in Stockholm, the story begins in the carefree summer of 2020, where social barriers dissolve, allowing them to be themselves.”
The film is produced by Melissa Lindgren for Story in Sweden and co-produced by Marianne Makela for Napafilms in Finland, in co-production with SVT and Film Västernorrland, and will be screened in the Nordic:DOX competition program of the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival. It was also produced in collaboration with VGTV. This film was supported by the Swedish Film Institute, the Finnish Film Foundation, Nordisk Film & TV, AVEK, the Creative Europe Media Programme, and the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.
Philippe, the youngest brother with four older sisters, is a joker, while Jasmine, “an angst-ridden romantic, grapples with her absent father in Portugal,” according to the film’s synopsis. “The friends enjoy their youth through activities like skating and hanging out, but as they grow into adolescence, challenges arise.”
Experiments with alcohol, complex relationships, evolving style, and new friends are among the new experiences for teens. “As conflicts arise — especially centered around loyalty and cancel culture — their bonds are tested,” the synopsis notes.
“Almost forever “It is a film born of encounters – both with a new generation coming of age and with the pressing questions they bring to the world,” the duo share in a filmmakers’ statement. “When we first met our heroes at a skate park in Stockholm during the summer of 2020, we were struck by their energy, their diversity, their freedom of movement, the way their lives flowed across neighborhoods, backgrounds, and social worlds. They had just turned 14, and were experiencing a moment in life when friendships, love, and self-discovery arrive all at once, fragile and intense. We realized that through their eyes, we could tell a deeply personal and universally recognizable story of youth.
Add the directors: “At its core, the film is about identity—how it is shaped, tested, and reconstructed in the presence of friends, family, and the larger community. Through friendship, love, class, ethnicity, dreams, anxiety, and the unspoken weight of trauma, we follow our characters as they overcome the awkwardness of growing up in a world dominated by social media. Some moments are lighthearted and lighthearted, others confront the darker sides of adolescence.”
As happened in the filmmakers’ previous film, Always amberThey made sure their heroes owned their stories. Each teenager had his or her own camera, along with dual cinéma vérité filming and in-depth interviews. “This combination of self-filmed material and surveillance footage creates an essayistic and intimate story – where the protagonists decide what to share and how to represent themselves,” highlighted Hietala and Rinikkainen.
Almost forever It depicts “a generation growing up in a time of global uncertainty — the climate crisis, fears of war, and an internet culture that amplifies individual and collectivist outlooks,” the press notes concluded. “With this in mind, the film becomes an image and a mirror at the same time.”
THR An exclusive trailer for Almost forever. So, get ready to travel to Sweden for a taste of adolescence filled with smiles, tears, dancing, goofing off – and skateboards.
