As In Heaven

The jump from adolescence to adulthood is sudden in this scenic, yet harsh Danish period piece.

Near the end of the 17th century 14-year-old Lise is getting ready to leave her family’s farm to become the first of them to attend school. While preparing for the journey, her pregnant mother goes into labor. She is tasked with taking her younger siblings away from the farm, but as the hours pass with no news from home, she realizes something is wrong. As night falls, she must face the fact that the life she leads may be drastically altered by the very next morning.

As in Heaven has a simple story which allows its characters to shine. Mother-daughter relations, women’s place in society and the power of religion are all themes director Lindeburg touches on. The film received awards for Best Director and Best Leading Performance at the 2021 San Sebastián international film festival. And not to mention the prestigious main prize at the film festival in Gothenburg earlier this year.

Jenny Lund

Director

Tea Lindeburg (b. 1977) is a Danish director and writer who studied directing at Super16 in Copenhagen. She is most known for the TV series Kødkataloget (2013-2014) and the Netflix original Equinox (2020), as well as the podcast Equinox 1985 (2017), which the latter is based on. As in Heaven is her feature film debut.