JACK

"A laconic adolescent drama that burns with all the dynamism and intensity of a hyperactive child." – CineVue

When 10-year-old Jack is placed in care following an accident at home, his life gets worse not better. But he soon escapes, reunites with his little brother, and together they set off on an odyssey across Berlin to find their party girl of a mother.

This portrait of two brothers has echoes of the Dardenne brothers in its depiction of children overlooked by life. Shot entirely from the perspective of Jack (a magnetic Ivo Pietzcker), with a hand-held camera, it focuses on the lived experience of their situation as the boys roam the city. Non-judgemental, poetic and full of understanding, it is an affecting coming-of-age story of a character who has had to grow up way too fast.

"Demands attention … sensitive, compassionate and engagingly unsentimental." – Screen