28 Days Left by Yasmin Najjar selected to La Cinef
The short film competes in the student film section of Festival de Cannes.
28 Days Left (TJ28), directed by Yasmin Najjar and written by Kasperi Riihimäki, is among the 19 short films selected to La Cinef section of Festival de Cannes.
The film follows a Finnish-Palestinian woman, Amani Lillak, who is completing her voluntary military service in the Finnish Army’s medical corps. During a final combat exercise, Lillak learns that the crisis in her father’s homeland has further escalated. At the same time, the intensity of the combat exercise pushes internal tensions within the medical corps to their breaking point. Lillak tries to turn her back on both conflicts and be free for just a moment.
Najjar plays the lead role in the film which is based on her own experiences during her voluntary military service in the Finnish Defence Forces in 2021. 28 Days Left is Najjar’s graduation film from the Master’s programme in film directing at the ELO Film School of Aalto University.
Aalto University had a film in La Cinef last year as well, when Helmi Donner‘s Lightning Rod was selected to the section. Previous Finnish films in La Cinef (previously Cinéfondation) include To Return Until (2015) by Salla Sorri and The Painting Sellers (2010) by Juho Kuosmanen.
Festival de Cannes takes place May 12–23, 2026. The programme includes also the Finnish minority co-production Fjord which screens in the main competition.
Director’s statement
“Growing up amidst my family’s constant discussions about Palestine and its horrors, I developed a strong need to take action. I couldn’t bear the thought of Finland being threatened and having to watch the news in confusion, just as I did concerning Palestine, my grandad’s home country. When I decided to enter military service, I made a clear but ultimately naive decision that I didn’t want to train for combat, but rather to save lives as a medic. Lillak, the film’s main character, imagines she is prepared for military service, like everyone else. She believes that taking action would free her from the confusing and vague burden that has followed her throughout her life.
The film talks about war but also explores mixed identity. Many may criticize Lillak’s choice to undergo military service, but in a culture where the community is much more central than in Finnish culture, the choice is very logical. Particularly interesting is the connection between Western identity and the Middle East within the same person, as these worlds currently understand each other very little. I believe that a mixed identity doesn’t mean having two sides or two cultures. I think there exists something new within you, a mix.
The film does not moralize or provide answers on how Lillak or those around her should act. War cannot be justified as righteous, but in that system, we live, so dismissing it as ‘wrong’ is not enough. We need films contemplating the topic also from a modern Finnish perspective in times without active military engagement.“