Waiting room (2017)

Directed by: Simone van Dusseldorp | 10 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Rifka Lodeizen, Moos de Vries, Aaron Wan, Ghieslaine Guardiola, Margien van Doesen, Lykele Muus, Danya Khayame, Jade Olieberg, Ties Oudeboon

Simone van Dusseldorp is best known for her great children’s films. With ‘Diep’ (2006), ‘Kikkerdril’ (2009), ‘Briefgeheim’ (2010) and ‘Life according to Nino’ ​​(2014) and television series such as ‘Otje’ and ‘Abi’, she not only stole the hearts of the youngest film viewers, but also from juries of numerous film festivals in the Netherlands and abroad. In 2016, the screenwriter and director was honored with the oeuvre prize at the Cinekid Festival. Abroad, she won the prestigious prize for Best Children’s Film at the International Children and Young People’s Film Festival, in what we can safely call the cradle of children’s and youth film: Sweden. What makes her work so good is that she knows very well what goes on in the minds of children and knows how to translate it to the silver screen like no other. However, Van Dusseldorp does not limit himself exclusively to filming for children. For example, in the context of NTR Kort! the short film ‘Wachtkamer’ (2017), in which she incorporated her own experiences in her fight against cancer.

Doubt, uncertainty, restlessness, anger. Anyone who has been told that he is seriously ill goes through a roller coaster of emotions. Especially the time between the tests in the hospital and the day you get the results – is it your death sentence or is there still hope? – is debilitating. Sophie Fernando (Rifka Lodeizen) is going through this hell. This young single mother knows she has breast cancer, but only later learns how serious it is. That uncertainty is killing her. Just try to stay upright. Life around her continues as usual, but Sophie struggles. She walks around in a daze, navigating between hope and fear. She tries to suppress her tears, especially in the vicinity of her son. When she picks him up at a children’s party, she feels the looks of other parents poking into her back; is there gossip about her? The next morning in the schoolyard, several parents appear to be aware of her situation. She waves away a well-intentioned expression of compassion from a father of one of her son’s classmates (Lykele Muus); in her mind she uses coarser shaking. In her visions of the future, a bunch of flowers being delivered is already on her coffin. And that while she does not yet know how serious her situation is; who knows, she may still be treated.

Van Dusseldorp and lead actress Rifka Lodeizen drag their audience into the world of uncertainty, in which your thoughts run away with you. What someone thinks, you already fill in for yourself. You don’t need pity, because you are strong. But your own demons are getting on with you. The film works with hypnotic sounds and patterns; the sound than the scanner in the hospital makes, the reflection of the water in the pool in which Sophie floats. The repetition draws you even further into Sophie’s world of thoughts. With Lodeizen, Van Dusseldorp has managed to attract a strong actress who does not need words to express a complete arsenal of emotions. The strength of this film also lies in its recognizability; an apparently stable woman is torn by uncertainty about her future. Little is left of the self-confidence she once must have had. And how frustrating must it be that life just goes on around her? It’s amazing how Van Dusseldorp managed to put so many emotions into a film of only ten minutes, without it becoming an ‘overload’, although the ending is somewhat unsatisfactory. ‘Waiting room’ is a powerful film in which uncertainty, frustration and unrest is given a face.