Daysury Valencia

The story revolves around a group of teenage boys. When one of them suddenly gets a chance to make a pact with the devil things shift quickly in their lives.

Set in a near-future Sweden, where jobs are scarce, margins are tight and corporate profit trumps all, this timely hybrid film reveals a frighteningly all-too-recognisable economic dystopia. Sköld highlights the effects of the ruthless system on families, friendships and communities. All but a hair’s breadth away from homelessness, zero-hours contract workers squabble over shifts at the discount supermarket while store manager Eleni, a new mother forced to return to work too soon, frantically pumps breast milk in the staff toilets. Poignant and compellingly performed, the film’s vignettes are punctuated with animated sequences, inventively exposing the dehumanising and absurdly wasteful effects of capitalism. And yet, beyond the store, an ever-growing ‘underclass’ offers a sense of hope through sustainability and true community.

The time of change is on the threshold for fifty-three-year-old Kaj, who recently has started to question his authority as Sensei. After a workplace accident, Kaj is forced to find a way out of the past and a way into the present.