DE JAREN DES ONDERSCHEIDS
The Years of Reason
WORK IN PROGRESS
Short fiction film
19 minutes
2026
Synopsis
The young Dutch writer Niels wanders through the vast and anonymous city of Brussels, having just completed her first manuscript. One evening, she receives a call from the sea: a mysterious connection filled with the sound of crashing waves that carries her into the night. In the days that follow, she loses herself in a wander through the city: cinemas, cafés, an experimental radio show where she reads from her own work. She retreats to the Dutch countryside, to her father, but the silence brings as much confrontation as it does peace. Back in Brussels, she stands in a small café one evening, surrounded by music and people, and listens.
Director's statement
This fictional short film is about existential angst, coming of age and the longing for connection. The film follows Niels, a young Dutch writer who has lived in Brussels for years but never really feels at home anywhere. When she receives a mysterious phone call from the sea one night, a dreamlike journey begins through the city, the Dutch countryside and her own imagination.
The project arose from a personal fascination with feelings of not belonging, melancholy and the tension between dream and reality. Yet The Years of Reason seeks not only the heaviness, but also the beauty and lightness that sometimes break through unexpectedly.
Through slowness and tranquillity, the story attempts to let the viewer drift off into a dream, and return again. Image and sound alternate in dominance.
Director: Theo Warnier
Production: Theo Warnier, KASK, Geoffrey Detant, Donna Hollebeek