Dutch Shorts to Berlin: En Route

Marit Weerheijm’s En Route is a film made from a child’s perspective dealing with a major social problem. Without giving away any of the plot, poverty and hunger lie at the root of this very moving tale of a family’s journey through a city. The film is supported by KORT! (Film Fund, CoBO fund, NTR and NPO Fund).

“When you approach such difficult subjects and themes from the point of view of a young child, we might see things differently. It definitely adds some lightness to the stories,” comments director Weerheijm. “I think it’s beautiful that children don’t know everything about this world, but they do want to know everything about it. That is the same curiosity that makes a filmmaker."

“For me, this makes children the best main characters because they can translate all these questions
that I have about the world into a storyline, into a film. Plus, I love working with children on set. You never know what you’re going to get, but when it happens, when they deliver, it can be the truest thing
you’ve seen in a long time.”

Weerheijm came to prominence in 2016 with her brilliant short When Grey is a Colour, produced by
partners Loes Koomen and Eva Verweij for their joint company Room for Film, which won a Student
Oscar in 2017. Has her style evolved since then? “I don’t know if it has changed much [but] I do think it
evolved because of more experience. En route has a few similarities with When Grey is a Colour. They both tell the story of a young girl, a child’s perspective, and they both tell stories about difficult subjects, taboos even. What was new for me was writing the script all by myself. The result was that I had complete
flexibility on set, especially with dialogue. I had written dialogue, but I also did improvisations and that
worked really well with the kids.”

Read the complete interview with Marit Weerheijm about the making of En Route on issuu.com

Still/trailer: En Route, Marit Weerheijm