First Feature Competition Best Film

International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award

Every war ends sooner or later, but it leaves scars on the hearts and minds of those who survive it. For Youssef, Afghanistan and Iraq linger. After an almost fatal incident at home, he enrols in a special facility to prepare for another battle: this time, to learn to control his anger. It's not going to be easy.

Director Christian Bonke combines documentary and fiction as he takes us to the island of Strynø. There, Anne-Line Ussing and her husband, Stuart Press – who was diagnosed with PTSD 10 years after serving in the Australian Army – run a voluntary retreat centre for Danish soldiers such as Youssef. In the company of war veterans, generous hosts and their children, Dar Salim, who won the Best Actor award for “Until We Fall” at PÖFF 2018, delivers a performance of brutal honesty and frank authenticity in this gripping drama, which is both painstakingly researched and extensively timely. The film explores the possibility of rebuilding the life a former soldier deserves. Vulnerable Youssef attends vital group exercises to process an enormous amount of grief and learns to accept the person he has become.

The scariest reality of this heartbreaking film is that, after ongoing wars (Ukraine is mentioned), thousands of traumatised soldiers like Youssef, Felix, Knudsen and Thomas will return home. There will be tears.

Edvinas Pukšta