As part of the European Union Film Festival (EUFF), The Cinematheque presents director and screenwriter Jörgen Scholtens’ Fathers & Sons, a darkly compelling and emotional tale about the lasting impacts of parenting – and finding family in the most unexpected way.

“[Fathers & Sons] is about how parenting shapes you as a person,” says Scholtens. “The movie demonstrates that, even at forty, when a good father figure enters your life, you can still change.”

Celebrating its 27th edition at The Cinematheque, this year’s festival (Nov. 14–28) will feature films from all 27 EU members, inviting audiences to experience the diverse excellence of European filmmakers.

Behind the camera

Scholtens’ journey into filmmaking and acting began in a childhood immersed in the vibrant world of theatre and film. At about nine years old, Scholtens took a role in the classic Dutch play The Chameleon, igniting his passion for acting. He soon began acting lessons and joined theater groups in his hometown of Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

His ambition for filmmaking began several years later, when he was a teenager watching a horror movie. The movie sparked his desire to produce film, a passion intertwined with his acting.

“It was a terrible film, but for some reason it sparked something in me. And that’s where it all began,” he says.

When film producers approached Scholtens and his team with a movie request about Father’s Day, they began brainstorming ideas about, unsurprisingly, fathers and sons. And so, the plot of the film began to take shape: two brothers with an awful father find themselves in a bind when he passes away. The brothers decide to keep their father’s death a secret and devise a plan to deceive others by hiring a temporary replacement.

“This is the story we came up with, and we really liked it,” he recalls. “Later, I realized that it was inspired by my own life in a way.”

The director draws connections between his film and his own experience growing up with two fathers. Scholtens’ parents divorced when he was six years old, leaving him with two fathers. In the film, the brothers discover that the temporary stand-in for their father becomes someone irreplaceable himself, demonstrating that family can be found at any stage in life.

“Fortunately, in my case, neither father was ‘bad’; they just taught me different things,” he reflects. “Both shaped me in different ways, and I wouldn’t be who I am now without either of them.”

Capturing creative triumphs

Along with a nine-month time constraint on the production of Fathers & Sons, a big challenge was finding tonal balance. Scholtens struggled to find the right tone for the film, one in which the acting, styling and production design balances the realistic and the stylized. Fathers & Sons ultimately reflects this balance in an innovative, multi-genre style – an aspect of pride for Scholtens.

“If it’s too realistic, it distances the audience from the story; if it’s too stylized, it can feel artificial,” he explains. “I’m happy with how it turned out.”

Scholtens is most proud of the scene where the main character, Loet, seeing his brother and new father singing a duet at the organ, is tempted to join them. For him, this impactful moment is comic, absurd, and dramatic.

“You can see that, for the first time in his life, Loet dares to experience something and try something new,” he explains.

A common thread in Scholtens’ films is the behaviours of different groups of people, and the interpersonal dynamics acting upon them. He is excited to further explore these themes in future projects, and even more so to share them with others.

“It’s a real honour to have Fathers & Sons screening in Canada, and I hope Canadians enjoy it,” the director says. “I look forward to sharing my next film with you soon.”

For more information, please visit:

https://thecinematheque.ca/series/european-union-film-festival-2024