Bliss! World Premiere at EIFF 2016

bliss-featuredMeet the Robsons, a dysfunctional family living in South Shields on the north east coast of England. Sixteen-year-old Tasha (Freya Parks), the middle child, is a sensitive young girl. When she cruelly finds out from Charlie, her mum’s boyfriend, that he isn’t her real father she is determined to track her real father down.

Jenny, the eldest sibling, tells Tasha that she remembers a man referred to only as “The Viking” coming round when she was a baby. Tasha becomes convinced that this mysterious “Viking” is her father. With help from beloved younger sister Debbie and brother Danny, Tasha rides the waves aboard a large ferry destined for Norway. On arrival she is taken into care. There she meets a Norwegian girl, Marta, who proposes to help her find her dad.

Tasha and Marta escape from the children’s home, and follow a Norwegian band they encounter to a music festival. One of which, Tasha is convinced, is her father. At the festival in the magical fjords Tasha impresses him with her soulful singing, and he befriends her. Is he her father? What will happen to her family while she’s away?

Bliss! is the feature directorial debut from one of Britain’s most promising filmmakers, Rita Osei. Written by Alex Ferguson and based on his play of the same name. The film stars up-and-coming actors Freya Parks, alongside Reece Noi, Lauren Johns, David Leon, Montserrat Lombard, and Lars Arentz-Hansen. Bliss! is Osei’s first feature, which she developed with Writer’s Guild Award winning writer Alex Ferguson and 1988 Academy Award Short Film nominee Jenny Wilkes.

Bliss! receives its World Premiere at the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival, in the Best of British strand, on Sunday 19 June.

John McArthur
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