Lives are at stake, and tough decisions must be made under extreme pressure in Eirik Svensson’s riveting thriller that strikes a deep emotional chord and opens this year’s festival. Safe House is based on a true story that took place at a Doctors Without Borders field hospital in the Central African Republic on Christmas Eve, 2013. Civil war is raging, and Bangui is divided into a Muslim and a Christian section. Suddenly, a desperate man appears at the clinic in the Christian part of the city, where aid workers are struggling to save lives. He is Muslim, persecuted, and in imminent danger. Outside, an aggressive militia demands that the man be handed over, forcing Norwegian Linn, the clinic’s head of security, to confront profound moral dilemmas. Eirik Svensson and standout actors Kristine Kujath Thorp and Alexander Karim skillfully explore themes of courage and the value of human life in this powerful and thought-provoking drama.