Finn

Director: Frans Weisz

Netherlands / Belgium 2013, 90 Min, Dutch, age recommendation: 8 years and up

Football is not one of Finn’s passions – much to his father’s chagrin. A strange crow lures the boy away from the sports ground to an enchanted-looking farmhouse in the neighbourhood. Although the place has long been derelict, on this particular day Finn encounters a mysterious man there in a black coat and a flowing mane of white hair. Finn is entranced when old Luuk starts playing his violin. All at once Finn's mother - who died years ago - appears to him, her face wreathed in smiles, just as he remembers her from a photograph. From this moment on Finn wants nothing more than to learn how to play the violin so he can repeat this magical experience. But his father gives him short shrift and forbids him from having anything to do with Luuk. He refuses to say why, just as he refuses to talk about the death of Finn’s mother. While his father thinks Finn is at football, the boy sneaks away to the farmhouse and learns that you need both your heart and your hands to play music. Then one day his father discovers Finn’s secret connection to the enchanted house. The film’s fairy-tale elements are cleverly interwoven with reality so that one merges imperceptibly into the other.