Screen can exclusively reveal the trailer for Hamy Ramezan’s debut feature Any Day Now, which is selected for Berlinale’s Generation Kplus.

New Europe Film Sales handles sales for the Finnish feature.

The story follows 13-year-old Ramin Mehdipour and his Iranian family, who are living in a refugee centre in Finland. Just as Ramin starts to enjoy the school holidays, the family receives the terrible news their asylum application has been denied. The Mehdipours file a final appeal, and they continue with their everyday lives.

The cast includes Asghar Farhadi regular Shahab Hosseini as the father, Shabnam Ghorbani as the mother, and newcomer Aran-Sina Keshvari as Ramin.

Ramezan, who emigrated to Finland from Iran in his youth, wrote the script alongside Antti Rautava. He previously directed shorts including 2015’s Listen, selected for Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

“It’s emotionally 100% truth but our journey was a bit different,” Ramezan said of how the film compares to his family’s own experience. “We never thought about ourselves as refugees. Being an immigrant wasn’t our identity, we had to survive it. My parents had to party from time to time to get through all of that,” he said with a laugh.

“There were horrible things that happened during the journey but you came out with the best people. Your heart was full of the people who helped you…The news concentrates on such a small part of negative aspects, for me it was important to celebrate the humanity and give hope. I just wanted to show that refugee life is not as far away from your own life. One of the biggest things I remember from our journey is how in love my parents were.”

Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka produce for Aamu Film Company, whose credits include The Happiest Day In The LIfe Of Olli Maki.

Any Day Now won the Screen International Best Pitch Award at Tallinn in 2018 and best project at the 2019 Finnish Film Affair.

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