Quiet Life

A film by Alexandros Avranas

Running Time 99 min

Language Russian, Swedish, English

Format Digital HD

Screen Ratio 2:39

Sound 5.1

Shooting Locations Sweden, Estonia, Finland

Synopsis

Sweden, 2018. A mysterious syndrome affecting refugee children is sparking
concerns among doctors and politicians.

Sergei and Natalia have been forced to flee from their native country after an attack that almost took Sergei’s life. They have settled with their two young daughters in Sweden, waiting for the Migration board to decide on their Asylum Application.

They try their best to lead a normal life. They work hard, send their kids to Swedish school, learn the language, submitting themselves to regular inspections from the authorities and hoping that one day, they will be Swedish citizens. But when their asylum application is rejected, Katja, their youngest daughter collapses and falls into a mysterious coma.

Faced with a moral dilemma, Sergei and Natalia’s resilience will be tested. Can they summon hope to save their daughters?

Director’s statement
Ever since I heard about Child Resignation Syndrome a few years ago, I’ve been obsessed with the phenomenon and the need to bring it to the screen. Millions of children are on the move, driven from their homes by the war, poverty, or political repression, hoping for a decent life. But how can parents provide protection and stability for their children while knowing a reality that is anything but optimistic?

This is what Sergei and Natalia face when their asylum is denied and their youngest daughter plunges into a state of Resignation Syndrome, a condition of despair affecting hundreds of children in Sweden alone. Is it possible to create something out of nothing just by trying hard enough? Is happiness, in the end, something that is ours to create?

“Quiet Life” is about their struggle to restore hope and stability at all costs, about finding light out of an inhumane situation.

Crew
Director: Alexandros Avranas
Screenplay: Stavros Pamballis, Alexandros Avranas
Director of Photography: Olympia Mytilinaiou GSC
Production Design: Markku Pätilä
Costume Design: Jaanus Vahtra
Editor: Dounia Sichov
Original music: Tuomas Kantelinen
Sound: Kristjan Kurm – Kostas Varympopiotis – Persefoni Miliou
Line producer: Urte Fink

Cast
Chulpan Khamatova – Natalia
Grigory Dobrygin – Sergei
Naomi Lamp – Alina
Miroslava Pashutina – Katja
Eleni Roussinou – Adriana

Producers: Sylvie Pialat, Alejandro Arenas Azorín, Benoît Quainon, Adeline Fontan Tessaur
Coproductions: Reik Moller, Ulf Israel, Olivier Guerpillon, Frida Hallberg, Riina Sildos, Elina Litvinova, Kostas Sfakianakis, Vicky Miha, Kaarle Aho, Kai Nordberg

A Les films du Worso production
In coproduction with Elle Driver, Senator Film Produktion, Fox in the Snow, Amrion, Playground, Asterisk*, Making Movies

Coproducers: ARTE France Cinema, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Film I Väst, Ert, Faliro House, Exile Content, Sezzfilm, Fink Film, Three Brothers

With the support of Eurimages, Film Estonia, Finnish Film Foundation, Swedish Film Institute, Région Île-De-France, Creative Europe Media Programme – Media of the European Union, Estonian Film Institute, Greek Film Centre, Ekome, Cultural Endowment of Estonia

With the participation of ARTE, TRT, Yle

International sales: Elle Driver