A Moment in the Reeds

SYNOPSIS

Having moved to Paris for university, Leevi returns to his native Finland for the summer to help his estranged father renovate the family lake house so it can be sold. Tareq, a recent asylum seeker from Syria, has been hired to help with the work, and when Leevi’s father has to return to town on business, the two young men establish a connection and spend a few days discovering one another during the Finnish midsummer.

A response to the dearth of queer narratives in Finnish cinema, A Moment in the Reeds is among the first queer feature films made in the country. Viewing Finland from the perspectives both of an immigrant and an emigrant, the film casts the long-marginalised voices of sexual and ethnic minorities centre-stage in a story about the search for freedom, acceptance and a place to call home. Filmed in summer 2016, A Moment in the Reeds premiered as part of the Love strand of the BFI London Film Festival 2017.