A MOMENT IN THE REEDS
Feature film / 107min / Finland-UK, 2017
A MOMENT IN THE REEDS is an intimate drama about the chance encounter of two men by the Finnish lakeside. Leevi, who has left Finland behind to study abroad, returns for the summer to help his father renovate the family lake house. Tareq, a Syrian asylum seeker, has also been hired to help, and when Leevi’s father returns to town on business, the two young men give into their mutual attraction, spending a few midsummer days discovering one another. Among the first queer-themed feature films made in Finland, A Moment in the Reeds 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.
BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARD NOMINEE The Discovery Award
FINNISH FILM ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor
“‘A Moment in the Reeds’ is deliberately spare in all departments, heightening impact through restraint...more first features would benefit from a modest narrative scale explored with this much detail and assurance.”
“In his debut feature, writer-director Mikko Makela weaves themes of national identity, queerness, and outsiderness into an engaging and steamy drama.”
“One of the most moving gay romance stories of recent years...my biggest surprise of the London Film Festival.”
“A remarkably mature debut from Makela...a fresh new voice in queer cinema.”
FESTIVALS
BFI London Film Festival / Göteborg Film Festival / Seattle International Film Festival / Helsinki International Film Festival / Frameline / Hamburg International Queer Film Festival (Closing Film) / Nordic Film Days Lübeck / QUEER-Streifen Regensburg / Les GaiCineMad / / Pink Life Queer Fest (Ankara & Istanbul) / Pinx (Ghent) / Mardi Gras Film Festival (Sydney) / Mannheim Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Opening Night) / Divers Valencia / Roze Filmdagen: Amsterdam LGBTQ Film Festival / Brisbane Queer Film Festival / Melbourne Queer Film Festival / Chicago European Union Film Festival / qFLIX Philadelphia / Wicked Queer: The Boston LGBT Film Festival (Opening Night) / Cleveland International Film Festival / Zinentiendo LGBT Film Festival / Geelong Queer Film Festival / Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival / OutView: Athens International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival / Reel Affirmations (Washington D.C.) / OUTshine Film Festival (Miami) / LGBT Film Festival Poland / Lovers Film Festival: Torino LGBTQI Visions / Freiburg Gay & Lesbian Film Festival / Pink Apple Zürich / Fairy Tales Film Festival (Opening Night) / Kiev Molodist International Film Festival / Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival / Cinépride Nantes
A WILD BEAST PRODUCTION
Written & Directed by Mikko Makela / Produced by Mikko Makela, James Robert Watson, Jarno Pimperi / Director of Photography: Iikka Salminen / Sound: Enos Desjardins, Arttu Volanto, Jaakko Kautto / Editor: Mikko Makela / Additional editing: Jojo Erholtz
CAST
Leevi: Janne Puustinen / Tareq: Boodi Kabbani / Jouko: Mika Melender / Villager: Virpi Rautsiala
