Haevn 'Fortitude' by Bram Schouw

Dutch director Bram Schouw, who signed to Blink in London in January, has created an affecting and unconventional drama for Dutch band Haevn.  

When a prisoner walks through the gates of his jail to his freedom, his first thought is to see his teenage son, about to take part in a wrestling competition. Schouw makes this moment impressively real, but then the perspective appears to shift from the man to the boy, taking part in the wrestling match, and looking beaten. 

Without giving too much away, there is a real message to be taken from the film about the impact of absence and that awful pain of missing someone. It's also about the importance of that crucial formative relationship between father and son. And that comes across through Schouw's impressive direction of his lead actors: Douglas Russell as the father and Denis Bolunov as the son.