Bluebird

Colour, 35 mm
Netherlands, 2004, 76 min
Section: Focus on the Netherlands

Synopsis

The main character in this television film, which won a Glass Bear in Berlin and received other awards at international film festivals (Montreal, Toronto) is 12-year-old Merel. The multi-talented girl studies hard, she likes reading Dahl and Tolstoy, she has a nice singing voice, she’s good at sports and, what’s more, she lovingly takes care of her physically disabled, wheel-chair-bound little brother Kasper. Without apparent cause, however, the perhaps too ambitious Merel becomes the target of bullying from her classmates at the prestigious school she attends. As their verbal and physical attacks show no sign of abating, the lonely girl starts to harden her heart against the people around her… An emotive drama which offers a compassionate portrayal of the tangled emotions of a vulnerable girl, wandering aimlessly between childhood and adulthood. Audiences will appreciate the highly authentic performance of acting debutante Elske Rotteveel.

About the director

Mijke de Jong (b. 1959, Rotterdam) attended the Social Academy in Amstelhorn and then began studying at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy. She graduated from the school in 1983 and, six years later, made her first feature film, Squatter’s Delight (In krakende Welstand). Her second film, the drama Love Hurts (Hartverscheurend, 1993), won the Critics’ Award at the Netherlands Film Festival and a special award from the Locarno IFF. The director and screenwriter also works for television, for which she shot the children’s series I Am Willem (Ik ben Willem, 2002) and the drama Bluebird (2004), among others. Her latest film, a drama about loneliness, anxiety and love, Stages (Tussenstand, 2007), won four awards at the Netherlands Film Festival, three awards at the festival in Las Palmas and a Special Mention at the Locarno IFF.