AURORA 

One night at a hot dog stand in Finnish Lapland, commitment-phobic party animal Aurora (Mimosa Willamo) meets Iranian refugee Darian (Amir Escandari). Darian needs to marry a Finnish woman in order to get asylum for himself and his daughter, so he proposes marriage. Aurora turns him down, as she is busy working as a nail technician and plans to move to Norway, away from her unhappy life. However, after meeting his sweet daughter, Aurora agrees to help him find a wife. As Aurora introduces numerous women to Darian, the two of them grow close. When the perfect wife candidate comes along, Darian and Aurora are faced with a difficult choice: to pretend to be happy or to finally stop running. Writer and director Miia Tervo stated that she wanted her unconventional rom-com to “salute the biggest force of nature: love.” (Note adapted from LevelK.)

Miia Tervo, 2019, Finland, 106 min. In English, Finnish, and Persian with English subtitles.

Preceded by:

CLUMSY LITTLE ACTS OF TENDERNESS / PIENIÄ KÖMPELÖITÄ HELLYYDENOSOITUKSIA 

In this short comedy, a weekend father wants to show his teenage daughter his love by taking her to a car wash, but instead they end up on a life-changing adventure in the supermarket, at the endless sanitary napkin shelf.

Miia Tervo, 2015, 9 min. In Finnish with English subtitles.  AFI Member passes accepted.