Sezer’s Summer

When her eldest son was taken into care, things only got worse. So Claudia is doing everything she can to keep her 14-year-old son Sezer with her at home. Yet, the threat of being placed in care, makes Sezer even more rebellious. During a long hot summer in Rotterdam, he often doesn’t come home at night, steals bikes, is sometimes extremely rude, and doesn’t mind her at all. While his mother appeals to social workers in increasing despair, filmmaker Marina Meijer also takes the time to show Sezer’s vulnerability. He is a taciturn boy going through a phase of “no stuffed animals on the bed, but you can’t throw them out either.” He may calmly go fishing, has to gather up his courage to jump in the river with his friends for a swim, and jokes around with his family. Sometimes these moments seem to have been shot in nostalgic 8mm, as if they are already languid memories of a last carefree summer. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)