Watch – The Hollywood Reporter

In the first trailer for , a trio of teenage refugees attempt to escape from a detention center in an absurdly remote area of ​​northern Norway A beautiful daythe new movie from letter to the king Director Hisham Zaman.

The Hollywood Reporter received the exclusive first-look trailer for the dark comedy, which will have its world premiere on Monday, September 11 at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Centerpiece section of TIFF.

It is immediately clear that this will not be a typical refugee story. When we first see the three teenage protagonists Hamid (Salah Qadi), Aras (Ravand Ali Taha) and Ismail (Mohamed Salah) living together in a refugee center for unaccompanied minors, they talk about a dream one of them had to escape .

“The police followed me through the snow,” says one, “I saw a donkey. Suddenly, my head popped out of the donkey’s butt screaming, “Here I am, come and get me!” It must be a sign.”

Yes, his friend agrees, it’s a sign “we’re in a shithole and we’re never getting out.”

The trio want to flee the center before they turn 18 and be deported as adults. But so far their attempts have been unsuccessful. They don’t get far over the snow and ice before they are picked up by the local police and brought back to the center. Things get even more complicated when newcomer Aida (Sarah Aman Mentzoni) arrives and her plan begins to unravel.

Zaman’s blend of tragedy and comic absurdity is reminiscent of the work of Nordic director Aki Kaurismäki, but the film draws on his direct experience as a refugee from Iraqi Kurdistan to find a fresh and unconventional way of expressing the life and hopes of young asylum seekers to represent .

REinvent International Sales will handle the worldwide sales of the film.

Visit the A beautiful day trailers, below.