Kauwboy

The Netherlands’ official entry for this year’s Oscars® and winner of the Best First Feature award at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival, Kauwboy is a tender portrait of a boy struggling to come to terms with a family that’s not what it once was. With his country-singer mother absent, Jojo lives alone with his security guard father, a man of few words, who is quick to anger and has seemingly no affection for his 10-year-old son. Left to his own devices, Jojo discovers an abandoned baby crow in the woods near their house — and finds solace in caring for this small creature, who is even more alone and vulnerable than he is. Bringing the crow home, Jojo has to exert great efforts to hide the bird from his dad (under his bed, in the closet, in the fridge…) and the viewer is ever on edge against the inevitable outburst that would attend its discovery. But what really drives the drama is the questionable whereabouts of Jojo’s mother, who seems never to return from tour. Filmed in the rural Dutch countryside and featuring wonderfully natural performances, Kauwboy is a beautifully cinematic, bittersweet film that explores issues of loss and sorrow, while painting a joyfully upbeat picture of acceptance and love.