IDFA 2012
Desi
Maria Ramos
Netherlands
2000
90 min
n.a.
Desi is a cheerful 11-year-old who goes to school every day and has fun with her classmates. She seems a lot like the other girls, but when the bell rings and all the other children go home, Desi stays behind with her cell phone in hand. This is because she still has to figure out where she is going to sleep. Her mother died when Desi was just a baby, and her father Harry, an unemployed slacker, lives together with his girlfriend Esther on a dirty houseboat. Desi has her own room there, but she is not always welcome, and Harry and Esther argue all the time. She can also sleep at her paternal grandmother's house or her maternal grandfather's place, but she prefers to spend the night at her best friend's. This is the way Desi's life is. It wasn't her idea, but she never complains - she only wonders about things. She listens as her father tells her what happened to her mother, and she and her grandpa look at old pictures of her mom. Director Maria Ramos follows Desi closely but never intervenes. No questions are asked, and there are no voice-overs. In this way, we are gradually introduced to Desi's everyday life, which seems completely ordinary to the girl.
Credits
Screening copy
Pieter van Huystee Film
Pieter van Huystee Film
World Sales
Pieter van Huystee Film
Pieter van Huystee Film
Director
Production
Cinematography
Screenplay
Editing
Involved TV Channel
VPRO
VPRO