Die Storie van Christiaan (2018)

Die Storie van Christiaan, told from the point of view of an innocent child who believes everything in the world is beautiful and good, we are taken on a journey of childhood memories and the battles of growing up, that are both exciting and intimate but also an awkward experience. The story takes place in an Afrikaans village, Seerstroom, in the late 1970s. Christiaan, 11, is a curious, innocent boy who believes in fairy tales, freedom and free will. He quickly realizes that the madness of one religion, one language and one race is what's causing the disintegration of a culture. His god-fearing father and serving mother, deprives Christiaan of the freedom to tell his stories, and the death of his best friend, his liberal grandmother, leads to his realization that there must be something more. He meets Adriaan, the mysterious, artistic young man who lives alone in this broken depressed town. The reason why he is there and the reason why the rest of the community has rejected him as a "sinner" is never revealed to us however, hints are made about his past. But in Christiaan's innocent, young brain, he accepts Adriaan as his friend and mentor Adriaan teaches Christiaan how to not get caught up in the social pressure of the community's rigid ideological system and rules, but to find himself and develop his own individuality. Adriaan is a role model for Christiaan, but Christiaan's father who forces him into the horrific, emotionless routine of their culture leads to the biggest heartbreak and loneliness that Christiaan has to ever experience.