From Wednesday you can go to the cinema to watch the film ‘Zeevonk’ about a girl who is looking for answers after the mysterious death of her father. For sister and brother Wendy and Domien Huyghe, who respectively took on the screenplay and direction, the project is very personal.
Lena seems to lead a carefree life as a teenager. When she is not sailing, she spends her time at the skate park. But when her father, along with two other fishermen, dies at sea, her world comes to a standstill. While goons claim her father made a mistake, Lena becomes increasingly convinced that this is the work of a mysterious sea creature. She goes to great lengths to prove the existence of the beast and her father’s innocence.
Badminton
Even before Zeevonk can be seen with us, the film already opened a youth segment at the Berlin International Film Festival and won a prize at the children’s and youth film festival BUFF Malmö Film Festival in Sweden. Striking: yet the film is not explicitly advertised as a youth film. And there’s a good reason for that. Not only because the film appeals to every generation, but also because it paints a very honest portrait of what hurts. “Because I missed that myself when I was growing up,” says Domien Huyghe, with roots in Gistel. He was 15 when his father died unexpectedly. “I didn’t recognize myself in any story, especially in films where everything seemed so delineated. It was there that the ambition arose to do something with all those extremes that you feel, without getting a super heavy art house drama.”
At the time of their father’s death, his older sister Wendy was 24 years old. “I traveled a lot, I sort of fled. Ever further, ever longer. Until after two years I hit a wall.” Even though they, Domien, their brother and mother were very close and caring, talking was difficult. About what they felt deep down. During his film education, Domien tried to deal with difficult themes in a less heavy way, but the story first Zeevonk only surfaced during a… badminton match. “It literally went back and forth with ideas, to the great frustration of our opponents,” laughs Wendy. “We had the basic elements ready fairly quickly.”
Superintens
“In terms of setting, we chose Ostend. The places I often visited myself: the youth club, the skate park… That was pretty obvious. Moreover, Ostend is a city that is always changing, which makes it interesting. The hardest part of that process? The search for a main character who was about twelve years old, wanted to dive, could skate, sail and spoke West Flemish. We had planned three weeks for the casting and started the first day at 9 am. After fifteen minutes I sent a message to Wendy: we have them. Truly incredible. We had the rest come, but no one could match Saar (Rogers, ed.).”
For the main cast, they could count on Hilde De Baerdemaeker, Sebastien Dewaele, Zouzou Ben Chikha, Valentijn Dhaenens and Lynn Van Royen, among others. “Domien and I had already worked together, for example for his entrance exam. But this was in a different category and super intense to do,” says Wendy.
“We have grown closer together,” Domien confirms. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a sort of coping process, but in the end it did heal. For us, and also our family. We talk about our father again. I hope that people from this film remember how important it is to talk to each other, and that we should dare to tackle that processing process.”
Wendy: “There is also a life before and after. It wasn’t so much that we ignored that grief or each other, rather it was sparing each other. Now that I am a mother myself, I understand where it comes from. It is not easy to show your grief to children, but you should actually do that. Because it’s part of life.”
Symbolism
Although a sea monster takes center stage, the film was titled Zeevonk, which refers to the special algae that emit light in the waves on hot summer days. Perhaps a symbolic link to sadness, which is just as often elusive, yet also embraces beauty? “There are different interpretations,” said Wendy. “It rather symbolizes life itself, of which you never know what it will bring and in which you have nothing under control. You better go with the waves. And sea spark is only really visible when it gets dark around you.”
Domien: “Our greatest ambition is that we can also reach young people with this. Because this is the kind of movie I might have wanted to see myself as a teenager. Our next project? Another feature film, set in the 90s and where activism is central. And there will also be a project with young people and a skate park, yes. Because we notice that it is a group that is not always heard, while they do have a clear voice. They are often approached with caution, but they can actually take a beating.”
‘Zeevonk’, in cinemas from 29 March.
