See Finland’s contender for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, Family Time, in the Nordic & Baltic Oscar Contenders series! The screening will be followed by a film talk and Q&A with director Tia Kouvo.
A family comes together for the holidays — and immediately starts falling apart. Just like every year, middle-aged sisters Susanna and Helena are visiting their parents’ house with their families. And just like every year, Grandpa Lasse drinks too much; Grandma Ella has to take care of everyone; the kids are fed up, and the sisters are arguing about the most pointless things. Tia Kouvo’s bitingly humorous, poignant debut digs into a universal question: Are we destined to remain stuck in the same patterns, or can we ever change — and at last become a happy family?
Winner of the Best Film Award at Riga IFF, Lübeck Nordic Film Days, and International Women’s FF Seoul, as well as three Jussi Awards for Screenplay, Directing, and Film of the Year, Family Time is “a tender film with relatable ideas or emotions at its core” (International Cinephile Society).
This screening is presented in this year’s Nordic & Baltic Oscar Contenders series. See all films here.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Tia Kouvo is a director and screenwriter with a background in social psychology. She graduated from Valand Academy in 2018. Family Time is her debut film and it is based on her graduation short film with the same title. The short film was awarded at both HIFF (Love & Anarchy) and Tampere International Film Festival. She is based in Gothenburg and works in both Sweden and Finland. Tia has developed her distinct, observational style in her previous films, among them the award-winning Chat with Me (2014), We Retired People (2018), and Hollywood (2022).