War Children

"War Children" is a documentary of those children who were sent back and forth between Finland and Sweden during World War II. It is a story about the experiences of the children themselves, now 60-70 years old. The film depicts how children are parted from their parents, home and language and how they survive in the new world they are sent to. Ordinary Swedish people opened their homes to refugee children, in some cases even for years. There were nearly 70,000 children spread evenly around the country. Many families formed lifelong relationships with the children. The film follows of events of a few central characters during the time when they were children of war. Protagonists and their stories form the structure of the film; they are not remembering the past, but reliving it. The archive material paints a portrait of the era, turning private experience into the experience of two nations.