Cheer Up (2016)
Cheer Up takes us into the teenage lives of a team of losing cheerleaders in the Arctic Circle, Finland. They try their best to get better and look perfect doing it, while really, life just sucks. For Patricia, Aino and Miia, finding out who they are, where they belong and what family means is much more important than any trophy.
“Funny, fresh and very original - one of 13 most anticipated at DOCNYC”
“Gentle and deliberate”
“Far from a zero-to-hero story, there’s nothing predictable about Cheer Up”
“A biting portrait of young womanhood”
Nominated 2018 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDSBest Documentary Program (TV)
Festivals
- Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival
- Edinburgh International Film Festival
- Galway Film Fleadh, Ireland
- Cinematik Piestany, Slovakia
- Avvantura Zadar, Croatia
- Helsinki International Film Festival
- Reykjavik International Film Festival
- Calgary International Film Festival
- Leipzig Documentary Film Festival
- Nordische Filmtage Lübeck Germany
- Olympia IFF For Children And Young People, Greece
- DOC NYC, New York
- Forest City Film Festival, London Ontario
- Doc Point Tallin, Estonia
- Aswan International Womens Film Festival, Egypt
- Salem Film Festival, Massachusettes
- Sf Indiefest, San Francisco
- Tempo Documentary Festival, Sweden
- Doc Lounge, Malmö, Sweden
- Dallas International Film Festival, Usa
- For Film’s Sake, Sydney, Australia
“A very humane, moving and delicate piece of work [...] despite its frequently quiet and subtle core it’s laced with enough humour and unexpected turns of events to keep it entertaining and, I found, lingering long in the mind afterwards.”
“deadpan cheerleading doc Cheer Up is a joy”
“the stunning cinematography paired with an honest look at the messiness of both teenagehood and adulthood makes Cheer Up a must see.”