Drempelprijs Social Practices
Now or never again. My goal with this film is to create urgency for the here and now. Specifically, to declare your appreciation to the ones you love, now or whenever it is possible.
August 6, 2010, is the date of when my older sister Brechje had committed suicide. At her funeral, I spoke to her. Strange, I thought, to talk to someone who was not there anymore. I told my sister what she meant to me and how important she was to me. I felt grief, frustration and helplessness because I realised I was too late.
Why did I never tell my sister before how much I valued her? I wondered if my family had the same experience, did they also feel they were too late? I couldn’t uncover the answers myself, so I decided to ask my loved ones: my father Eugène, my mother Marleen and my younger sister Rosanne. They are after all, just like me, the experts when it comes to dealing with the loss of a loved one.
My goal with this film is to create urgency for the here and now.
My goal with this film is to create urgency for the here and now. Specifically, to declare your appreciation to the ones you love, now or whenever it is possible. By speaking about it openly in the film, a situation is created to project yourself into the story. In this way, the film can offer understanding and support for those who have had a similar experience. It is not only about losing someone but also dealing with the different emotions it invokes. I have noticed that my family members all dealt with mourning in their own way. I was curious about these differences and I hoped to find answers to the questions I had regarding my own feelings. The beauty of appreciating someone is in declaring and experiencing it in interaction. Now or never again.
Now or Never Again
I have chosen not to be on screen myself but invited the audience to take my place, for maximal engagement. The moving sceneries serve as intermissions, facilitating room for thought. I made this film because it is important for me to share this story, regardless of personal aspects. My documentary is inspired by the work of Tessa Pope with her ‘Origin of Trouble’ and by ‘Paul’s Last Waltz’ by Lieza Röben. They offered me appropriate solutions to the question of how to share such an intimate story to the world.
Jury Drempelprijs Social Practices: "The choice to make a film was not an obvious one. Marieke is educated to be a spatial designer, but has made a film for her graduation project and chose to follow her own path. With this Marieke shows that she can look across the boundaries of disciplines and take the story she wants to tell as a starting point. Marieke also shows this transcending quality in earlier work, in which she uses audio to discuss the politically loaded theme of feeling at home."
