The drama comedy is about 13-year-old Sasha, who dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. It is based on Jenny Jägerfeld's acclaimed novel of the same name and Linn Gottfridsson (Beartown, Glowing Stars) is the script writer. The main role Sasha is played by Sigrid Johnson (Maria Wern, Tusen år till julafton), Sasha's father Abbe is played by Oscar Töringe (Thin Blue Line, My Dad Marianne, Top Dog) and in the role of Sasha's bestie Märta we see feature film debutant Ellen Taure. Comedy Queen has been sold to more than 21 countries worldwide including China, Japan, Germany and France.

For the European Young Audience Award (YAA) 2022, an international committee consisting of Board Members and experts pre-selected eight films, and a jury of 13-to-14-year-old participants watched them and selected three nominations. The nominated films are Sanna Lenken's Comedy Queen, Cyril Dion’s Animal and Lars Montag’s Dreams Are Like Wild Tigers. The YAA is an official category of the European Film Awards that honours the best achievements in European cinema.

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Synopsis Comedy Queen
Sasha is just 13 years old and wants nothing more than to become a stand-up comedian. She wants to make everyone laugh, especially her father who cries in the shower when he thinks no one is listening. Behind her eyes, the life- threatening tears also burn on Sasha, but she refuses to mourn her mother, who has passed away. She secretly writes a list of everything she has to do to survive - shave her hair, stop reading books, say no to the world’s cutest puppy and above all - become a Comedy Queen.

The film is directed by the internationally acclaimed Sanna Lenken who has previously won a Crystal Bear for Best Film at the Berlinale for her feature film debut My Skinny Sister in 2015. The film was also nominated for two Guldbagge Awards and won the Grand Film Award at the Gothenburg International Film Festival. She has previously also directed the success series Thin Blue Line (2021) and the Guldbagge Award-nominated short films Eating Lunch (2104) and Night Children (2018).

The film is produced by FLX with producers Rebecka Lafrenz, who previously produced Bert’s Diary (2020), Cockpit (2012) and was awarded the Guldbagge Award for Sebbe (2010), and Anna Anthony, who previously produced Jalla! Jalla! (2000), In a Better World (2010), Becoming Astrid (2018) and Zozo (2005), for which she received the Nordic Council Film Award. Executive producers are Joshua Mehr and Pontus Edgren. SF Studios distributes the film in the Nordics and REinvent handles international sales.

About the European Young Audience Award (YAA)
The European Film Academy was founded in 1988 under the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, its first president. Today it unites 4,200 filmmakers – directors, producers, actors and actresses, cinematographers, screenwriters, editors, production designers, and other film professionals – from across Europe. Every year, the Academy presents the European Film Awards which celebrate the best in European cinema. 

As an official category of the European Film Awards, the Young Audience Award presents three European films to 12-14-year-old audiences across Europe, where a jury of 13-to-14-year-old former YAA participants watch the nominated films and act as a jury, voting for the winner. https://yaa.europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/home