Lilya 4-ever is a 2002 crime drama film written and directed by Lukas Moodysson, which was released in Sweden on 23 August 2002. It depicts the downward spiral of Lilja Michailova, played by Oksana Akinshina, a girl in the former Soviet Union whose mother abandons her to move to the United States. The story is loosely based on the true case of Danguolė Rasalaitė, and examines the issue of human trafficking and sexual slavery.

Karl Fredrik Lukas Moodysson is a Swedish novelist, short story writer and film director. First coming to prominence as an ambitious poet in the 1980s, he had his big domestic and international breakthrough directing the 1998 romantic film Show Me Love. He has since directed a string of films with different styles and public appeal, as well as continued to write both poetry and novels. In 2007, The Guardian ranked Moodysson eleventh in its list of the world’s best directors, describing his directorial style as “heartfelt and uncompromising.”