Living in 2 Houses: Renée

Ever since her parents divorced some time ago, 11-year-old Renée has lived in two different houses. She takes turns between her mother Niekie and her father Eric, who lives with his new wife and their one-year-old son. Renée has her own room in each house, but has to obey two different sets of rules. Dutch documentary filmmaker Frans Bromet, whose work was the subject of a retrospective at IDFA last year, wonders what Renée thinks about this split existence and enters into a serious discussion with her. Is it hard to constantly be shuttling back and forth? Does she like her father's new wife? Renée also films her two different lives herself, and asks her parents some probing questions: "How would you like it if your parents were divorced?" she asks each of them in turn. Nina, Eric's new wife, gets grilled as well: "When you fell in love with my dad and heard about me, were you happy or annoyed?" Renée's camerawork may occasionally be a little shaky or overexposed, but her questions are sharp and crystal clear. And although her new life can be pretty trying, she never passes judgment.