Father and Daughter (2000)

Directed by: Michael Dudok de Wit | 9 minutes | animation, short film

It has been almost 21 years since a Dutch film managed to win an Oscar in the category Best Non-English Language Film (that was ‘Character’ by Mike van Diem). The last nomination in that category dates back to 2005 (Hany Abu-Assad’s ‘Paradise Now’). Then ‘we’ do a lot better with our short films. In 2015, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen and Marieke Blaauw were nominated for their ultra-short animation film ‘A Single Life’ and in 2017 it was Michael Dudok de Wit who was in the running with his first feature film, ‘The Red Turtle’ (2016). for the Oscar for Best Animated Film. The same Dudok de Wit is as yet the last Dutchman to return home with an Academy Award; in 2001 he earned the coveted gold jewel for his great animated short ‘Father and Daughter’. A film of only eight and a half minutes, which every Dutch person should see at least once in their life. The success of ‘Father and Daughter’ opened doors for Dudok de Wit that might otherwise have remained closed to him; this resulted in a unique collaboration with the illustrious Japanese animation stronghold Studio Ghibli.

‘Father and Daughter’ revolves around a very simple, but all the more appealing, fact. A girl and her father are cycling on the dike. They stop, he says goodbye and rows away in a boat. She waits in vain for his return, comes again and again to see if he has returned. Even when she gets older and eventually becomes old herself, she keeps returning to that same spot on the dike. When she is very old, the water behind the dike has become a polder and she goes out onto the grass herself in search of her father. The story is recognizable for everyone, with universal themes such as aging, letting go, the strength of family ties and cherishing memories. Without using dialogue, Dudok de Wit knows how to convey exactly the right message, to move his audience and touch the heart. The sober style, matching music and the brown tones with which Dudok mainly works underlines the melancholic character of the film; we are therefore not ‘distracted’ by superfluous finery, so that all attention is focused on what we see, and therefore also what we feel. ‘Father and Daughter’ shows a play of shadow and light, of refined details in movements, all of which play a role in fueling recognizable feelings and emotions.

‘Father and Daughter’ was in 2007 – the only animated film – included in the Canon of Dutch Film, an overview of sixteen important and defining films that should reflect the versatility of Dutch film history. A recognition that this moving wordless masterpiece absolutely deserves.