Paradise Drifters

When Sven provokes a fight after an evening out in Amsterdam his best friend ends up in a coma, and nothing is the same as before.

A destructive aggression is festering inside the 19-year-old Gijs. He must learn to contain it as his life is steadily getting out of control.

The undocumented refugee Sabr (35) works in the Dutch illegal male prostitution. Short, gritty drama about the tragic cycle of abuse, dominance and power. Following his feature debut Paradise Drifters, Mees Peijnenburg presents a short, gritty and significantly less hopeful portrait, in his by now idiosyncratic, poetic-realistic style. The 35-year-old undocumented refugee Saba is caught within illegal male prostitution. His date with a john turns out different than expected, when several men are present at the meeting address. Should he pass over the money and run the risk they will call the police? Sort drama about the tragic cycle of abuse, dominance and power.

Tomas and Naomi weren't born for love. They will never be royals, but as brother and sister they have each other.

Falling in love feels like a bubble in which the rest of the world seems to disappear. Daily life seem to be temporarily suspended. The world freezes, an eclipse in time. Your senses and the world around you is on fire, and everyone is getting burned. It’s overwhelming, frightening and scary but above all magical. FIRST LOVE is a visualization of that feeling that once was.

Sometimes things happen that silence everything else. Nothing makes sense any more. A narrow asphalt path meanders through woods and fields. A recurring image. It happened here somewhere. A tree and a cross, decorated with fresh flowers. Something happened here that was to change Henri’s life forever. He has been alone, everywhere, ever since – no matter whether he is with his friends, at parties or at home. Whatever happens, he is there and yet absent.