SUNBURNED

Claire (13) is vacationing with her older sister Zoe (15) and mother Sophie (40) at a resort hotel in southern Spain. Sophie spends her days by the pool and shows a minimum of interest in her daughters. Claire clings to her older sister, who generously lets her tag along to some activities. But the moment Zoe meets Michael, a boy her own age, Claire is left on her own. At the beach, Claire befriends Amram (15), a young African beach vendor who struggles to survive. Back at the hotel, Claire starts to hang out with two wild party girls, Chantal and Sandra (both 15). They introduce Claire and Amram to the ‘fainting game’, where one person hugs the other until she or he faints and ‘dreams’. While dreaming, Amram is finally able to speak to his long-lost father, who tells him that Claire will bring him luck. But by trying to help him, she ends up making his desolate situation even worse.

Trailer

Director

CAROLINA HELLSGÅRD is a writer-director, born in Sweden and based in Berlin. After studying Experimental Media Design in Berlin and Film at Cal Arts in L.A., she made her feature debut with WANJA which premiered at the Berlinale 2015 and was nominated for the Berlinale Best First Feature Award. In 2017, she was a Villa Aurora Fellow in Los Angeles. The internationally-acclaimed ENDZEIT – EVER AFTER was her second feature film as a director and the first zombie film with an all-female team. SUNBURNED is her third feature film project.

Carolina Hellsgård (© Iris Janke) photos © NiKo Film