Paradise is Burning

In this coming-of-age drama, a trio of free-spirited, young sisters seem to get by just fine without their mother, who has seemingly abandoned them. But when social services comes calling, they concoct a plan to stay together. Winner of three Horizon Awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.For sisters Laura, Mira, and Steffi, their mother’s absence has been going on for months. With just the three of them, Laura is the closest thing to an adult in her younger sisters’ lives, even as she tries to navigate being a teenager without any role models at home. When social services calls and requests a meeting with the family, Laura secretly sets out to find someone to pretend to be their mother in order to keep the girls together. As the meeting looms, each sister struggles in her own way, aimlessly wandering through milestones with only each other to cling to. A moving coming-of-age drama of a female trio who fiercely love–and fight–like sisters, PARADISE IS BURNING straddles the uninhibited spirit and boundless freedom of childhood without parents, and the harsh realities of surviving the journey. —A.B.