Förortsung Kidz in da Hood

For all you fans of Swedish kid-rap movies, this one's for you. If you're not a fan yet, you will be when you see this buoyant musical, set in the public housing “hood” of suburban Stockholm. Amina is a nine-year-old immigrant from a North African country who's been moving around Sweden with her grandfather for three years with no residency papers. Amina and Grandfather land in the lap of Johan, a punk rocker with a big heart who lets them crash at his filthy place for a few days. When the old man dies suddenly, Johan is left with Amina on his hands and only the vaguest notion of how to take care of her. Amina makes friends with Mirre, a precocious Swedish girl and a local pack leader. The Kidz spend their time bopping around da Hood, making rap rhymes and pulling youthful pranks until they stumble on a couple of real thieves with a secret stash. Meanwhile, Social Services is closing in on Amina and Johan; their time together may be running out. The fresh musical numbers that come out of nowhere add to the charm of this film, which won a handful of Sweden's equivalent to the Academy Awards®. (In Swedish with English subtitles) – BB