First Zone

In a future where the Netherlands has been flooded by sea-level rise, Fenna has survived but has become solitary and hardened. She made a home in a wind turbine above the vast sea. One night, a violent storm sweeps her out of this "home" and Fenna must navigate a labyrinth of half-flooded, perilous islands and diverse communities.

Along the way, she begins to question the harsh, solitary life she has chosen, and new encounters gradually awaken old feelings she thought she had buried.

Thom Lunshof’s remarkable first feature film makes this aquatic dystopia feel at once mesmerisingly beautiful and genuinely terrifying. Filmed largely in real Dutch locations, the flooded landscapes have an unsettling physical reality: still waters, vast horizons and half-submerged structures can appear almost idyllic one moment and threatening the next. Sami El Hassani’s extraordinary cinematography is central to this achievement, finding a haunting beauty in a world where water has become both landscape and enemy.

Filmmaker Thom Lunshof will be in attendance at this screening.

This film is eligible for the Spirit of the Festival Award for Best Film award and Best Screenplay.

This screening is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,