Sweden 1952: Head teacher Tora Holm has no tolerance for children who speak Finnish in her Swedish school. This creates conflict with nine-year-old Elina, who's just recovered from an illness and now is haunted by her father's death. Elina feels undermined and humiliated by Holm's disciplinarian teaching methods, and the battle of wills that follows threatens both the traditional authority of the classroom and the independence of a free spirit. The troubled girl is defiant quietly, while Miss Holm earns our sympathy as the traditionalist who believes firm discipline is the only way to control children. . . even when tragedy lurks around the corner. ELINA celebrates the power of the individual, and the importance of integrity and standing up for what one knows is right.