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Kauwboy (Little Bird)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 – 7:30pm
The Netherlands 2012. Director: Boudewijn Koole 
Cast: Rick Lens, Loek Peters, Cahit Ölmez, Susan Radder, Ricky Koole

VANCOUVER PREMIERE! The Netherlands’ official submission to the upcoming Oscars is this bittersweet tale of Jojo (Rick Lens), a lively 10-year-old boy who escapes the difficulties of his home life through a friendship with a baby jackdaw. Jojo’s father Ronald (Loek Peters), a night watchman, is depressed, uncommunicative, and given to drinking and fits of anger. Jojo’s mother, strangely absent, is said to be touring the U.S. as a country singer. Jojo, left mostly to his own devices, finds the abandoned bird on one of his many solitary wanderings through the surrounding countryside. He determines to raise it at home as a birthday gift for his mother, while trying to keep it hidden from his volatile father. Difficult events will challenge Jojo’s grasp on what is truly real and what he only wishes were true. Beautifully cinematic and anchored by fine naturalistic performances (especially young Lens in the lead), Kauwboy premiered at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival, where it won the award for Best First Feature; it has since earned several other honours in Europe. “[It] exposes the gulf between how kids and adults cope with trauma (Sophie Monks Kaufman, Time Out London). Colour, Digibeta video, in Dutch with English subtitles. 80 mins.

Post-screening discussion with Dr. Carolyn Steinberg, an Infant/Preschool Child Psychiatrist who has been working at Richmond Hospital in the Early Childhood Mental Health Program for the past seven years. Trained at the Universities of Toronto, Western Ontario, and Alberta, she is now a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.