Bluebird is a 2004 Dutch television film directed by Mijke de Jong. It is the first in a trilogy of films made by de Jong about young women becoming adults. The film was selected by the Netherlands as its official Foreign Language Film submission for the 78th Academy Awards, but was disqualified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because it had been shown on television.
Contents
Plot
Merel (Elske Rotteveel) is a 13 year old girl living in Rotterdam and looking after her younger disabled brother. She is successful at school, but hounded by a group of a classmates. As the bullying intensifies, Merel finds it hard to talk about it and her behaviour changes.
Cast
Elske Rotteveel as Merel de Leeuw
Kees Scholten as Kasper de Leeuw
Elsie de Brauw as Mrs. De Leeuw
Jaap Spijkers as Mr. De Leeuw
Bright O'Richards as Charles
Bente de Vries as Julie
Floris Heyne as Peer
Carmen Otten as Kim
Sharai Voet as Cindy
Samir Veen as Martijn
Ramon Lieshout as Freek
Accolades
Bluebird won a Crystal Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film was selected by the Netherlands as its official Foreign Language Film submission for the 78th Academy Awards, but was rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because it had been shown on television. The film also won the Youth Jury Award at the Toronto Sprockets International Film Festival for Children and the Grand prix de Montréal at the Montréal International Children’s Film Festival.
In 2008, VPRO rated it as de Jong's best film and stated it demonstrated her skill as a director.