As a child, you should be able to count on a safe home and caring parents, but once you are an adult, Daan Bakker argues, you have to find your place in a confusing world without any road map. The struggle of five young men – who in today’s society could easily be labelled ‘losers’ – is what he shows in the separate stories in Quality Time, distinct in style but strongly connected in terms of vision.
Koen attends a family reunion and pretends to be as crazy about ham and milk as he once was, until he makes himself sick. Amateur photographer Stefaan wants to record childhood memories, which leads to awkward situations. Kjell, to recover his sense of self-worth, travels back in time and sees himself as a child. Karel was kidnapped by aliens as a child and returns to his loving parents in a wondrous new form. The insecure Jef faces the challenge, on the 31,054th day of his life, of pleasing his new in-laws.
The amazement, the awkwardness and the absurdity of all this is reflected in the way each episode has its own form, ranging from the ultra-minimalist animation of the Koen episode to the realism of the last story. Remarkably, the unusual effects simultaneously create distance, make us curious and evoke a highly intimate atmosphere, delineating the vulnerability of the protagonists with razor-sharp precision. Winner MovieZone Award 2017.
Also in this combined programme
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La ragazza del mondo
Self-assured, convincing Italian debut about Giulia, whose world is defined by the certainties and limitations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. When -
Fish Story
Fact-checking has never seemed so enjoyable as in this short documentary tale by Charlie Lyne about family myths, fish and ingenious marketing. -
The Handmaiden
Master swindler Count Fujiwara has taken an interest in the family fortune of Lady Hideko. To rob her, he conspires with her new maid Sook-hee.… -
Moonlight
American indie sensation shows the life of a black man as he grows from being the poor child of a single, addicted mother into a…
Film details
- Country of production
- Netherlands
- Year
- 2017
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2017
- Length
- 85'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
