Beyond Dreams (Dröm vidare)

Rojda Sekersöz directed Beyond Dreams (Swedish: Dröm vidare), a Swedish drama of 90 minutes made in 2017 from a screenplay by Johanna Emanuelsson. Both graduates of the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts, the two developed the project together after the producers approached them; it marked Sekersöz's debut as a feature director and Emanuelsson's debut as a screenwriter.

The story centres on Mirja, played by Evin Ahmad, a young woman recently released from prison who is pulled between her lifelong circle of friends and her struggling family. Gizem Erdoğan, Malin Persson, Segen Tesfai, Outi Mäenpää and Ella Åhman appear in supporting roles. Filming took place in the summer of 2016 in Alby, Botkyrka, where the story is set, and in Luleå. Agneta Fagerström and Annika Hellström produced through their company 2afilm, with backing from Filmpool Nord, STHLM Debut and the Swedish Film Institute.

Its makers described the film as a political work about friendship, loyalty and identity, and it has also been read as a commentary on caregiving and motherhood inside the Swedish welfare state. After premiering at the Gothenburg Film Festival on 28 January 2017 it opened in Swedish cinemas on 17 March, launched the Lübeck Nordic Film Days on 1 November, and travelled the following year to Berlin Feminist Film Week and TIFF Next Wave in Toronto. Reviews were generally positive, with praise for the direction, the writing and the performances, Ahmad's above all, and the film editors of Dagens Nyheter named it one of the ten best Swedish films of 2017. It won the Church of Sweden's Film Prize, the Audience Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Norwegian International Film Festival; Sekersöz took a Guldbagge Newcomer Award, while Ahmad and Erdoğan were nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role respectively.