Flat Earth

Father and son, Senior and Junior, try coming to terms with their war trauma by flatly denying reality in Flat Earth by Monique Verhoeckx. The character of Senior, played by Joris Smit, was inspired by the filmmaker’s grandfather who was a POW in one of the Japanese internment camps during WWII, where he was forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway. He died from the effects a few years later. In this personal film, young veteran Senior lives on in a surreal monitoring space. On his monitors, he observes his now elderly Indonesian son Junior, and looks back in in time. When images from the war involuntarily return to him, Senior finds himself in contemporary Thailand while he re-experiences the war. Strong, contradictory emotions arise in him in relation to his son. Gradually, a hidden history is revealed.

Directed by Monique Verhoeckx, Flat Earth leans on a strong ensemble — Joris Smit, Piet Verhoeckx — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2014.