"Try to Turn Back" (working title) is an intimate, tragicomic father-son drama about regret, pride, and the inevitable march of time. It tells the story of Koen, an 86-year-old man who, now approaching his own end, travels across the Netherlands on a mobility scooter to visit the son he disowned 38 years ago. A journey in which it gradually becomes clear that it's never too late to turn back.

The film explores the question: what happens if you hold on to your point of view for too long?
How do you harden as a person when you can't forgive? And what happens when the ticking of time suddenly suffocates you?

The film's tone is slightly tragicomic. Despite the heavy subject matter, there's room for humor and humanity. Koen's journey isn't grand or heroic; rather, it's small, clumsy, and honest. The film doesn't aim to judge, but rather to show that a person can always change, even if only a little, and even if only at the very end.

Visually, the film relies on a realistic, understated style. The Dutch landscape, empty roads, gray skies, and everyday villages form the backdrop for an emotional journey where nothing seems spectacular, yet everything is at stake.

Try to Turn is therefore a film about a father, but actually about all of us: about the effort it takes to let go, about the pride that stands in the way of love, and about the last chance to put something right before it is truly too late.

The film is a project by third-year Film and Audiovisual Media students from the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and has a professional approach.

What do we offer?
The film challenges you to play small, with an emphasis on non-verbal expression. We provide catering on set and offer a friendly, motivated crew. The film is a worthy portfolio project and an opportunity to expand your network.

Type
studentenproductie

Location
Omgeving Amsterdam

Description
For our new short film, we're looking for an actor to play the role of elderly Marco (59). This role appears in one scene, but it's the emotional core of the film and the climax of the entire narrative. Marco is the estranged son of the main character, Koen, and their meeting is the moment when all the accumulated tension, regret, and unresolved past come together.

Marco owns a successful restaurant. He's a man who has transformed his past pain and bitterness into discipline, hard work, and control. Years of routine in busy kitchens have shaped him into someone who, at first glance, appears unapproachable and tough, but inside, is colored by deep feelings he never expresses. He carries a tremendous burden: guilt about the past, anger toward his father, and an equally strong desire to finally hear that it wasn't his fault.

Marco is Koen's mirror: just as proud, just as tough, just as afraid of rejection. He's buried his feelings beneath professionalism, but in this scene, everything inevitably boils over.

We are looking for an actor who can create maximum emotional impact with minimal dialogue.
The scene revolves around suppressed emotion, nonverbal acting, subtle physical tension, and the display of the rift between the exterior and the interior. The encounter between father and son is raw, vulnerable, and intense, but never melodramatic. The acting must be rooted in authenticity and understatement.

Language requirements
Dutch

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