AS IN HEAVEN

Will a dream dictate life or death?   

On a farm in the late 1800s an intense waiting begins when a mother goes into a complicated labour, and 14-year-old Lise must prepare herself for a test of faith that may change her life forever.  The beauty of the surrounding countryside veils the fact that life here can also be fragile.    

In this coming-of-age drama, inspired by Marie Bregendahl’s 1912 novel En dødsnat, we observe a dramatic, emotional event from Lise’s perspective.  Confronting the disastrous impact of superstition and ignorance head on, the film poignantly lays out the personal and social costs of exclusionist dogma, and how it poses a threat to individual lives and social progress in general.

Winner of the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the Göteborg Film Festival, As in Heaven is both about woman-centred experience and how the growing-up process for children can be bewildering as well as joyful.

Accentuated with dashes of apocalyptic, dreamlike imagery in a late 19th-century setting, As in Heaven is a potent period piece whose rage echoes into modern times.
Christopher Cross, Tilt Magazine

A raw look at what women experienced back in the day, and a painful realization that not much has changed since then.
Rosa Parra, Latinx Lens

A moving historical drama about being pulled in different directions between the past, present and future, As In Heaven is a dark feminist fairy tale with a real sting in the tail.
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, AWFJ Women on Film

A challenge to turn-of-the-century thinking, As In Heaven is about growing up too soon, and the perennial presence of life, death, and pain.
Josie Melendez, Full Circle Cinema

Though set more than a century ago, Tea Lindeburg’s powerful, engaging debut feature is as timely as any film you will see this year, addressing issues we still (sadly) must deal with today.
Steven Gravestock, Toronto International Film Festival