Ma mère et moi (2023)
Directed by Emma Branderhorst, Written by Nena van Driel
Kees wants to roam far away from home, but her mother doesn’t seem ready for the cut-off as of yet. In light of the complexity and ambivalence of their close relationship, a joint road trip develops into an emotional tour de force.
Short film | 00:15:55 | Short Film | Themes: Youth, Coming of Age | Colour | 1.85:1 | the Netherlands | Spoken language: Dutch, French, English | Subtitles: English, | Format: DCP, ProRes | Dolby 5.1 & Stereo LtRt
About Emma Branderhorst:
Emma Branderhorst is a 26-year-old director from Amsterdam. Her work deals mainly with major social themes, which she makes into personal and intimate stories. Emma her films are mostly from the female perspective. In her work she dealt with themes such as period poverty, children of war and bullying. Although these themes sound heavy, she always tries to apply a light tone. The ‘slice of life’ effect is very important in her work, which is how she’s able to make the characters feel ‘alive’ and that the story doesn’t only focus on the problem.
In 2019 Emma graduated from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht with the short film Under the Skin(2020). This film is about the struggle and urge to belong to a group, at the expense of others which often happens in a very subtle devious way amongst girls. This film premiered at the Berlinale in 2020 and we won many prizes, including at the Cinekid festival (best short film) in Amsterdam. The film allowed her to win the Wildcard Subsidy of the Netherlands Film Fund worth 50,000 euros, which resulted in the film Ma Mere, et Moi(2023). Her debut short film Spotless (2021), a film about period poverty, premiered at the Berlinale in 2022, won the Crystal Bear, Qualified for the Academy Awards(Oscars) and played at numerous film festival all over the globe. Emma’s latest film Ma Mere, et Moi(2023)is a short road movie about mother and daughter relationships.
Festival selections:
- Berlin International Film Festival 2023, Generation 14 plus, Germany
- Go Short International Film Festival 2023, Dutch competition, the Netherlands
- Kristiansand Children’s Film Festival 2023, international short competition, Norway 🏆
- Mo&Friese KinderKurzFilmFestival 2023, Germany
- International Film Festival Innsbruck 2023, non competitive section, Austria
- Sarajevo Film Festival 2023, TeenArena section, Serbia
- Netherlands Film Festival 2023, Gouden Kalf Competition, the Netherlands 🏆
- Young Director Awards 2023, Short film competition, France
- Shanghai International Film Festival 2023, non competitive section, China
- Cut To Gent, non competitive section, Belgium
- Bolton International Film Festival 2023, international short film competition, UK
- Reykjavik international film festival 2023, children & youth section, Iceland
- Thessaloniki international Film Festival 2023, Next Gen section, Greece
- Cinemagic Belfast 2023, international short film competition, UK
- Kuki Festival 2023, international short film competition, Germany
- Ficbueu International Film Festival 2023, short film competition, Spain 🏆
- Athens International Children’s Film Festival 2023, short film competition, Greece
Awards:
- Second Prize, €1000,-, Ficbueu 2023 🏆
- Gouden Kalf for Best Actor Shrot Film, the Netherlands Film Festival 2023 🏆
- Gold, Young Director Awards 2023 🏆
- Youth Jury Award, Kristiansand International Children’s Film Festival 2023 🏆