20-year-old Marieke lives with her emotionally distant mother in Brussels. During the day she works in a chocolate factory, at night she seeks physical intimacy with older men – wordless encounters in which she briefly finds both control and security. Her relationship with her mother is marked by silence, and the early death of her father is an unspoken trauma. Marieke takes fragmentary photographs of the men she sleeps with—no faces, only bodies. When Jacoby, a literary publisher and friend of her late father, shows up one day, Marieke's world begins to shift. His questions about a lost manuscript stir up repressed memories. An intense dynamic develops between the two, in which Marieke slowly begins to question her story – and herself. MARIEKE, MARIEKE is the feature film debut of Belgian director Sophie Schoukens. The film celebrated its world premiere in 2010 at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and has been shown at the Marrakesh Film Festival, the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur, and the Festival du Premier Film d'Annonay, among others. At the Hof International Film Festival, it was awarded the Bild-Kunst-Produktionsdesignpreis (Image-Art Production Design Award). Hande Kodja gives a compelling performance in the lead role, supported by Jan Decleir and Barbara Sarafian. The cinematography is by Alain Marcoen, who is best known for his work with the Dardenne brothers. MARIEKE, MARIEKE tells an intimate, poetic and at the same time disturbing story about grief, female desire and the silence between generations.
Between a chocolate factory and quiet affairs, Marieke navigates grief and desire—until a stranger reopens old wounds.
20-year-old Marieke lives with her emotionally distant mother in Brussels. During the day she works in a chocolate factory, at night she seeks physical intimacy with older men – wordless encounters in which she briefly finds both control and security. Her relationship with her mother is marked by silence, and the early death of her father is an unspoken trauma. Marieke takes fragmentary photographs of the men she sleeps with—no faces, only bodies. When Jacoby, a literary publisher and friend of her late father, shows up one day, Marieke's world begins to shift. His questions about a lost manuscript stir up repressed memories. An intense dynamic develops between the two, in which Marieke slowly begins to question her story – and herself.
MARIEKE, MARIEKE is the feature film debut of Belgian director Sophie Schoukens. The film celebrated its world premiere in 2010 at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and has been shown at the Marrakesh Film Festival, the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur, and the Festival du Premier Film d'Annonay, among others. At the Hof International Film Festival, it was awarded the Bild-Kunst-Produktionsdesignpreis (Image-Art Production Design Award).
Hande Kodja gives a compelling performance in the lead role, supported by Jan Decleir and Barbara Sarafian. The cinematography is by Alain Marcoen, who is best known for his work with the Dardenne brothers. MARIEKE, MARIEKE tells an intimate, poetic and at the same time disturbing story about grief, female desire and the silence between generations.