Released
A short children’s documentary by Annabel Verbeke celebrating childhood on the rooftops of Brussels

Aiko, a 10-year old girl, is heading into town after the lockdown, in search of new stories for her vlog. Amidst the sounds of the city, she hears music. Her curiosity leads to encounters all over the city with children expressing their feelings through music and rhythm. Together with her new friends, Aiko celebrates childhood on the rooftops of Brussels through music, singing, dancing and beatboxing

About the director

Annabel Verbeke, born in Ypres, Belgium in 1987, is a documentary filmmaker. In 2010 she graduated magna cum laude at RITCS Film School in Brussels. Her graduation film 'Les enfants de la mer/mère' - 'Children of the Sea' won 8 international awards and was selected by more than 20 international film festivals. Her next film 'We will remember tehm' was the closing film of Visions Du Réel 2018 and the best watched documentary film on Flanders national broadcasters in the same year. Her latest film 'Four seasons in a day', part of the Borderline collection, had its world premiere in the international spectrum competition at Hotdocs 2021, and won the award for best emerging international filmmaker.

As a filmmaker, Annabel is looking for beauty in the most modest and common things surrounding us. She always has been fascinated by subjects that are seemingly common but at the same time not always very visible. She likes to unhide and unravel these fascinating stories, bringing both its poetry and absurdity to the surface. This often neglected but obvious beauty is the core of Annabel essayistic and serene filmic approach. Banality is changed into poetry, darkness of life countered with refined humor. In the past years, Annabel has been working as a freelancer for several broadcasters and production companies, directing commissioned documentary films, series and tv-programs.

In 2022 'T(w)o Work', will be released, a documentary series in collaboration with both national Belgian broadcasters VRT-Canvas and RTBF, with the support from the Flanders Audiovisual Fund. 'T(w)o Work' follows in the footsteps of newcomers in Belgium and their long-term struggle to find a proper job in the country they want to call home. Annabel is co-directing the project with 6 non-European directors, all graduated from DocNomads, a joint masters program in documentary filmmaking organised by 3 European Universities.

More about Annabel on www.annabelverbeke.com

Credits

Directed by Annabel Verbeke
Producer - Mark Daems
Writer - Annabel Verbeke
Editor - Tom Denoyette
Dop - Pieter Jan Claessens
Sound - Gedeon Depauw
Music - Mick Lemaire
Sound design – Jamie MacLean

Awards & festivals

JEF Film Festival, Antwerp (BE)
Docville IDFF, Leuven (BE)
Kids Kino International Film Festival, (PL)
Chicago International Children’s FF (USA)
Cut To: Gent (BE)
Filem'On, Brussels (BE)
Dokkino (FI)
Indie Lisboa (P)
Let's Doc (PL)

Production details

Duration: 15'
Aikiddo is part of the Ket&Doc collection
Supported by Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF)
In-coproduction with Ketnet
With the support of the Tax Shelter System of the Belgian Federal Government

Language: Dutch
Subtitles: English, Dutch