Church of Sweden Film Award "Angelos" 2017
"Dröm vidare" (Beyond Dreams), directed by Rojda Sekersöz (Sweden, 2017) is the winner of the Church of Sweden Film Award "Angelos" 2017. The prize is endowed with 50.000 SEK and was awarded during the Göteborg International Film Festival (January 27 - February 6, 2017). The jury of three members consisted of Caroline Krook, former bishop of the Diocese of Stockholm, Roland Hedlund, manager and producer at Swedish television, and Pastor Mikael Ringlander, chairman of the jury.
Beyond Dreams is a drama about friendship, loyalty, identity and class. The motivation of the jury for the award underlines the strength of the main character, Mirja, played by Evin Ahmad: "The Church of Sweden Film Award goes to the film Beyond Dreams for the credible depiction of a young woman's struggle to finding and staying true to her own identity. The director Rojda Sekersöz’s full length feature debut impresses in the portrayal of friendship for good or bad and the vision of that it is never too late to begin again." The film won a number of other awards, such as the Audience Award in Göteborg, the Fipresci Award in Haugesund (Norway) and the Best Female Actor and Best Film Award in Duhok (Iraq).