Rip My Sweet Cousin

This year, Michel Kopec died at the age of 18. He was on his way home from work and was going much too fast on his scooter through an industrial park in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. He went off the road, banged his head against a lamppost and died a few hours later in a hospital. It was the first day he ever took his scooter out for a ride. The lamppost he hit is now covered with flowers and notes bearing texts from friends. On the ground are small lanterns with tea-warmers. His mother goes to the scene of the accident every week to light new candles and replace the flowers. His friends only went there in the beginning. The texts they left behind on the post all refer to plans they had with Michel. Trivial notes about going on vacation, eating out, kickboxing. Precisely this triviality of never realised plans is the subject of the documentary. Precisely the unrealised aspect makes everyday plans, dreams and ideals so special. The documentary tries to represent Michel's ill-fated and accidental death in sounds. The sounds one remembers of him and the silence he leaves behind. An impression of a place that inadvertently has become a sad monument.