Explosives (2018)

Directed by: Robbin Rooze | 19 minutes | short film, western | Actors: Akram Saibari, Ilias Bellaajal, Ismail L’Hamiti, Peter van den Eede, Gunter Lesage, Greg Timmermans, Willy Thomas, Maaike Somers

‘Springstof’ is a short film by Flemish filmmaker Robbin Rooze. The almost 20-minute film is about three Belgian boys of Moroccan descent, who have a small business in landscaping. Somewhere afterwards they are eagerly looking for a gas station, and luckily they find it just in time. What the boys don’t realize, but the viewer does, is that a bundled package of dynamite falls from the air into the back of their truck. When the boys find out, they panic and try to come up with something to get rid of the dangerous object, but then they are already ‘caught’ by the security guard of the case. When the owner of the business, together with a few racist employees, also gets involved, the film seems to be heading for a dramatic end.

This short film is another good example of how prejudice distorts the relations in our society. The well-meaning boys are immediately behind 1-0. Although humor predominates in this production, the nasty message is clear. Rooze makes it almost a western-like story due to certain camera angles. ‘Springstof’ may not be very surprising and a bit too long-winded, but it is a sympathetic short.