Cheer Up

Miia, the ambitious coach of Finland’s worst cheerleading team is sick of losing. So she takes a trip to the motherland, Texas, where she’s inspired by the American mindset and focus of the world’s best cheerleaders.  Returning to Finland as a tougher coach, she pushes her girls to the breaking point… but is that what the team really wants?

"a biting portrait of young womanhood"  iD-VICE Magazine

For the cheerleaders Aino and Patricia, the team’s success is the least of their concerns as they struggle to fight painful battles in their teenage lives. For them, the cheerleaders are like another family, a stepping stone and a source of support along the path of life. Miia thinks a winning team is all she needs, until life steps in and surprises her.

Cheer Up takes us into the teenage lives of a team of losing cheerleaders who try their best to get better and look perfect doing it, while really, life just sucks.  For Patricia, Aino and Miia, finding out who they are, where they belong and what family means is much more important than any trophy.

“far from a zero to hero story there is nothing predictable in Cheer Up…” Toronto Star