Joost van Ginkel
When the volatile Bo travels to Georgia to visit the grave of her father, a well-known trumpeter, she runs into his former childhood friend Levan. In search of her roots and a better understanding of her father, she decides to hitchhike in Levan's truck. Despite the age difference, they gently give in to the love they feel for each other. The melancholy trumpet playing of Bo's father accompanies their journey through the breathtaking Georgian landscape. In the end, they dare to trust each other to the point where both Bo and Levan share their darkest secrets.
The Paradise Suite is a story about six people finding each other and, sometimes with just one glance, influencing each other's lives irreversibly. For the beautiful young Bulgarian Jenya, her journey to Amsterdam turns out to be the opposite of what she hoped for. Her grueling captivity forces the angelic African, Yaya, to fight for her freedom - a dangerous fight in which he loses everything but his beloved faith. The Serbian war criminal Ivica, who has just become a father, is painfully confronted with the fact that crimes will never go unpunished. Bosnian Seka has nothing left to live for except her vengeance but as it turns out, it's that same vengeance that brings love back in her life. And when the Swedish piano-wonder boy, Lukas, runs away from his new temporary home, his father Stig finally realizes that their mutual passion for music damages their relationship.
Bruno finds it very interesting that his father, Daan (35), shaves his beard and head before he leaves on a military mission. When Daan offers his son to shave him, Bruno finds it an offer he cannot refuse. Along with this intimate way of saying goodbye, we see what happens to Daan on his mission in Afghanistan through Bruno playing with his toy soldiers.
Luuk is a truck driver who seems to be a goodhearted father for his eight-year-old daughter Isabel. After Luuk divorced from his wife Karen, Isabel lives with her mother. Whenever Luuk has the chance he takes Isabel to the sea or for a ride in his truck, which only carries sand. On one of those occasions Luuk discovers the horrific reason why Isabel is so quiet that day. From that moment on Luuk has to cope with a new and unexpected situation. Luuk kidnaps his daughter in an attempt to protect her, but he slowly loses control.
