Dejected Joy

This short documentary follows the quiet journey of a single mother from the Kurdistan region who has immigrated to Finland. Her four-year-old son, born in Finland, is growing up between two worlds—his mother’s Kurdish roots and the Nordic environment he calls home. At the heart of the film is the mother’s resilience. Her story includes a failed marriage of convenience, entered into with hopes of securing stability, but which ultimately left her emotionally and socially isolated. Though she could technically return to her homeland, she lives with a fear: under the laws of her country, full custody of her child legally belongs to the father. Returning with her son could mean losing him. This shadows her life and decisions, deepening her sense of exile, even if temporary.

Dejectedjoy is a portrait of survival, motherhood, and cultural tension—revealing what it means to be torn between safety and belonging, memory and future, home and exile.