My Life My Lesson
Short film Completed 2015
My life my lesson follows 16-year-old Felicia over the course of two years as she is attempting to live a normal teenage-life, having been brought up witnessing her stepfather beating her mother. Åsa Ekman, Oscar Hedin and Anders Teigen brings us a powerful, poignant and unsentimental coming-of-age documentary about a girl trying to change her father and heal her family whilst facing an immensely difficult inner struggle.
Long Synopsis
My life my lesson is a raw yet tender documentary that follows 16-year-old Felicia over the course of two years as she is attempting to live a normal teenage-life, having been brought up witnessing her stepfather beating her mother. It's an intimate portrait of a family living with the scars of domestic violence and a young girls attempt to change her father. As he no longer lives with the family she tries to keep him on the straight and narrow through phone conversations and text messages, to her mother’s dismay. Felicia wants to heal the family but at the same time her wish to progress is made impossible by her self-harming and the sleeping difficulties caused by the violence. She finds support in her friend Cherifa, who is never far from her side, as they both try to come to grips with how to get by when the world around them feels to be constantly on the verge of erupting.
After her stepfather again threatens to kill her mother the family is being sent to a women’s shelter. As things are put on edge Felicia’s bravery is tested – will she stand up for her family and herself, and testify in court against her father? And will she be able to make him change once and for all?
Åsa Ekman, Oscar Hedin and Anders Teigen brings us a powerful, poignant and unsentimental coming-of-age documentary about a girl trying to change her father and heal her family whilst facing an immensely difficult inner struggle.
Outreach Work Supported
Film guide and screenings for health care professionals who come into contact with vulnerable young people.
Crew
Asa Ekman
Director
The director Åsa Ekman latest film, A Mother’s Comeback (2011) premiered at the Göteborg International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary and won the prize for Best Swedish Feature Film. Her short film It's all about Edith (2006) got the Jury’s Honorary Award at Tempo Documentary Film Festival. In her short film Player vs. Romeo (2006) Ekman portrayed teenage boys from the suburb of Fittja. Her Dragkingdom of Sweden (2002) is a cult movie amongst the HBTQ scene as well as part of the course literature of gender studies at several universities.
About the production company
Film and Tell is a film company founded by award winning director and producer Oscar Hedin, with a staff of three working full-time with the production and distribution of documentary films. Film and Tell make projects that engage, entertain and create food for thought, but perhaps most importantly, films that aim to create positive change - Film for Change. The company released its first documentary in 2013, the short documentary Go Straight Home (11´), directed by Maud Nycander (Palme) and Iga Mikler (Eating Lunch). Film and Tell is currently working on two documentaries aiming to raise the issue of children living in violence, both presented at Idfa, one in mid-length competition and the other at the Forum. At present, Film and Tell has a strong slate of seven projects in development and production.
