‘Lust For Life’ Trailer: A Story Of War, Friendship And “Unconditional Love” — Thessaloniki Int’l Documentary Festival

EXCLUSIVE: An extraordinary story of friendship against a backdrop of war is told in Lust for Lifepremiering Friday at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in Greece.

Viktor Nordenskiöld directed the film, a production of Swedish companies Sisyfos Film and Freetown Films. From Thessaloniki, it heads to Tempo Documentary Festival in Stockholm for its Swedish premiere.

We have your first look at the film in the trailer above.

“In October 2015, two Syrian teenagers arrive on a beach in Greece. Saeed, wounded from a bomb raid and paralyzed, is literally carried by his friend Hazim after they had to leave the wheelchair behind,” notes the film’s synopsis. “Exhausted but grateful to have survived, they vow that they will never separate. Their journey takes them to Hamburg, Germany, where they find a new home with Marius, a teenager with cerebral palsy, and his mother, Astrid.”

The synopsis continues, “Spanning ten years, Lust for Life chronicles the journey of three young men who never give up on creating joy and purpose in their lives despite the darkness they are facing at times. Together, they discover what family means, how abilities vary, and who is actually carrying whom.”

The Thessaloniki program calls the film “a profoundly moving documentary that never has to fall back on sentimentalism or emotional exploitation, reminding us that unconditional love is the only home we never truly lose.”

Nordenskiöld’s directing credits include The Eukrainian (2025), The Secret (The Secret) (2023), and The Feminists (2019). Lust for Life emerged from a chance encounter.

“Ten years ago, when I met Saeed and Hazim on a Greek beach during their first minutes in Europe, I could never have imagined how long this journey would be,” Nordenskiöld writes in a director’s statement. “Two weeks before we met, Russia launched extensive air strikes across Syria at the Assad regime’s request, resulting in more people fleeing. Ten years later, Assad himself fled to Moscow. The Syrian conflict was complicated, but this marked an end of a cycle of authoritarian terror. This story takes place within that timeframe.

“Although this film is not about that kind of politics, we all have to deal with politics somehow, whether we like it or not. Everything is connected. Some people have to escape; some see it as an opportunity. Some people—and countries—must decide whether to welcome those on the run; some see it as an opportunity.”

Nordenskiöld continues, “In another sense, Lust for Life explores the concept of inclusion. Some people require more assistance than others, but one type of disability can manifest as another type of ability… In a way, Lust for Life explores the concept of interdependence—why and how we carry each other—through the story of three teenagers growing up. Fun, sad, intimate, caring, surprising.”

Lust for Life is directed by Viktor Nordenskiöld, with cinematography by Nordenskiöld. He produced the film with Mario Adamson, Ashley J. Smith, Dirk Manthey, and Paulina Knobloch. Maria Hemmleb and Viktor Nordenskiöld edited the film. The score is composed by Lisa Montan.

Watch the trailer for Lust for Life above.