Two teeners, three cameras, four years. That is one way to sum up the approach of Almost Forever, the new film from director duo Lia Hietala and Hannah Reinikainen (Always Amber), which follows the coming of age of teenagers in Stockholm, Sweden and world premieres 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 that the documentary explores. Almost Forever follows teenagers Jasmine and Philip over five “transformative” years, highlights a synopsis. “Set against the backdrop of a diverse group of friends in Stockholm, the story begins in the carefree summer of 2020, where social barriers fade away, allowing them to be themselves.”
The film, produced by Melissa Lindgren for Story in Sweden and co-produced by Marianne Mäkelä for napafilms in Finland, in co-production with SVT and Film Västernorrland, will screen in the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival’s Nordic:DOX competition program. It was also produced in association with VGTV. This film has been supported by the Swedish Film Institute, the Finnish Film Foundation, Nordisk Film & TV, AVEK, The Creative Europe Media Program, and the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.
Philip, the youngest sibling with four older sisters, is a jokester, while Jasmine, “a romantic with anxiety, grapples with her absent father in Portugal,” according to the film synopsis. “The friends enjoy their youth through activities like skateboarding and hanging out, but as they grow into adolescence, challenges arise.”
Experiments with alcohol, a complicated relationship, a style evolution and new friends are among the new experiences for the two teenagers. “As conflicts arise – particularly centered around loyalty and cancel culture – their bonds are tested,” notes the synopsis.
“Almost Forever is a film born out of encounters – both with a new generation coming of age and with the urgent questions they carry into the world,” the filmmaking duo shares in a directors’ statement. “When we first met our protagonists in a Stockholm skatepark during the summer of 2020, we were struck by their energy, their diversity and freedom of movement, and the way their lives flowed across neighborhoods, backgrounds, and social worlds. They had just turned 14, navigating a moment of life when friendships, love, and self-discovery arrive all at once, fragile and intense. We realized that through their eyes, we could tell a story of youth that is both deeply personal and universally recognizable.”
Add the directors: “At its core, the film is about identity – how it is shaped, tested, and rebuilt in the presence of friends, family, and the larger society. Through friendship, love, class, ethnicity, dreams, anxiety, and the unspoken weight of trauma, we follow our characters as they negotiate the awkwardness of growing up in a world dominated by social media. Some moments are playful and light, others confront the darker sides of adolescence.”
Just as in the filmmakers’ previous film, Always Amber, they ensured their protagonists have ownership of their stories. Each teenager had their own camera, alongside the film duo’s cinéma vérité filming and in-depth interviews. “This mix of self-filmed material and observational footage creates an essayistic, intimate narrative – one where the protagonists decide what to share and how to represent themselves,” highlight Hietala and Reinikainen.
Almost Forever portrays “a generation growing up in a time marked by global uncertainty – the climate crisis, fears of war, and an online culture that magnifies both the individual and the collective gaze,” conclude the press notes. “Keeping this in mind, the film becomes both a portrait and a mirror.”
THR can now premiere an exclusive trailer for Almost Forever. So, get ready to travel to Sweden for a taste of adolescence full of smiles, tears, dancing, messing around – and skateboards.
