Father Wanted: With a Piggy Nose

She got her eyes and smile from her mother. Did she get her upturned nose from her father? No one who knows the answer, because 13-year-old Jaël is the child of an anonymous donor. She'll be allowed to make contact with him when she turns 16, but she doesn't want to wait that long—Jaël wants to know right now who her father is. While she’s waiting, she shares with us her fantasy father— imagine John Travolta with a stubbly beard—and she explains why she wants so much to meet him: “The most important thing to me is recognition.”

Close-ups of Jaël and short conversations with her mother on the couch are intercut with dreamy shots of the teenager outside playing with her dog in the grass. Director Annelies Kruk doesn’t seek out the potentially darker issues, but focuses on the teenager’s excited sense of anticipation. She uses light music to create a fairytale atmosphere, and Jaël's endearing smile is never absent for long. Hurry up Dad, with your piggy nose. 

This film was shown at IDFA 2012 and is part of of the IDFA Junior program.