28 Days Left

Şafak 28 / tj28

DCP / Color / 24’
Finnish and Arabic with Turkish and English Subtitles
Finland, 2026

Director: Yasmin Najjar
Screenplay: Kasperi Riihimäki
Cinematography: Nadia Farghaly
Editing: Julia Matinniemi
Cast: Yasmin Najjar, Okko Alanne, Sherwan Haji, Mohamed El-Waber, Leevi Pellas, Rosa Honkonen
Producer: Meri-Tuuli Varis
Production: Aalto University, Dpt. of Film, Meri-Tuuli Varis

Synopsis

Finnish-Palestinian Amani Lillak is completing her voluntary military service in the Finnish Army’s medical corps. During a final combat exercise she learns that the crisis in her father’s homeland has escalated further, while the intensity of the exercise pushes tensions within the corps to breaking point. Lillak tries to turn her back on both conflicts and be free, if only for a moment. Yasmin Najjar, who also plays the lead, draws on her own voluntary service in the Finnish Defence Forces in 2021, exploring mixed identity and belonging without moralising.

Screenings