Alpha

We have seen before that winter sports resorts provide the perfect conditions to put family relationships on edge. In Jan-Willem van Ewijk's Alpha. it is no different: when young snowboard instructor Rein (Reinout Scholten van Aschat) is visited by father Gijs (Gijs Scholten van Aschat), together they brave the snow peaks and each other's grievances. While mountain climbing, unprocessed traumas emerge from under the permafrost, while even harsher weather conditions are expected on the descent.

The mutual glances and gestures of the Scholten van Aschats are those of a real father and son, both playing at the top of their game. Cinematographer Douwe Hennink's stunning camerawork captures the inhospitable landscape on 4:3 postcards with a razor-sharp edge. Filmmaker Jan-Willem van Ewijk uses that overwhelming natural splendour to lure inner worlds outside, as he did previously in Pacifica (2024) and Atlantic. (IFFR 2015).