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In receiving the Label, ALPHA will benefit from promotional support from Europa Cinemas and better exhibition thanks to a financial incentive for network cinemas to include it in their programming schedule.

The jury issued the following statement: “Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s Alpha was our unanimous choice for this year’s Europa Cinemas Label in Venice. We were all very impressed by the script, editing, photography and character development in this dynamic and believable study of the relationship between father and son. We also really liked the choice of music, and the absence of any sentimentality – it does not preach. Their petty grievances and posturing early on in the film are re-valuated against the empty, majestic backdrop of the vast, silent mountains. The film is beautifully shot but the director never allows the audience’s attention to waver from the intensity of the physical and emotional interaction between father and son as they are faced with a fight for survival. A real tour de force which we think audiences will connect with. Congratulations.”

The Jury consisted of: Daira Āboliņa (Splendid Palace, Riga, Latvia); António Costa Valente (Teatro Aveirense, Aveiro, Portugal); Andrea Porta (Cinema Teatro Nuovo, Varese, Italy) and Jana Trnková (Head of PR & Marketing, Kino Světozor, Prague, Czech Republic) and has been captured here with the winning director Jan-Willem van Ewijk.

ALPHA sold internationally by LevelK, is a BALDR Film production, a Lomotion Stargara co-production, in collaboration with VPRO,SRF, Blu with the support of the Netherlands Film Fund, Netherlands Film Production Incentive, CoBO, Slovenian Film Centre, Ministry of Culture of Slovenia, Federal Office of Culture (FOC), Creative Europe Media and Burgermeinde Bern.

The producer is Frank Hoeve, with co-producers Magdalena Welter, Louis Mataré, Jožko Rutar, Miha Černec, Martien Vlietman. The screenplay is by Jan-Willem van Ewijk, photography by Douwe Hennink, NSC, editing by Sander Vos NCE and Eline Bakker, music by Ella van der Woude, sound by Vincent Sinceretti, production design by Miha Knific and costumes by Anne-Sophie Raemy.

The actors are Reinout Scholten van Aschat (Rein), Gijs Scholten van Aschat (Gijs), Pia Amofa (Laura), Julien Genoud (Julien), Daria Fuchs (Anna), Pia Nikolić (Priska) and Kaija Lederberger (Helicopter Pilot).

Synopsis: After his mother's death, Rein moves to a small village in the Alps to immerse himself in nature, meditate and work as a snowboard instructor. The tranquillity ends when his intrusive father visits. Gijs is the undisputed star of a ski trip. He is charming to everyone and also starts flirting with Laura, Rein's new girlfriend, taking away from his son. It doesn't take long before Rein has had enough. So he drags his father away from the group. The two continue their hike alone. The tension is palpable. Gijs becomes increasingly uncomfortable on such steep and dangerous terrain, but Rein, despite his father's pleas, forces him to climb to the top. Suddenly, nature unleashes its might, turning their petty power struggle into a test of survival.

"ALPHA is a film about the changing nature of masculinity in contemporary society. It slowly strips a father and son of their modern Western privileges, technology, personal grudges and egos, leaving them naked before nature. The film begins in the chaotic environment of a ski resort, but the story culminates in the silent, cold and unforgiving snowfields and rock faces of the Alps. Initially filmed in fixed shots, accompanied by mechanical sounds and neurotic music, the two men feel a mutual annoyance, as well as being uncomfortable with their surroundings. As they progress towards the summit, however, things begin to flow more and more; the camera moves more freely and those previous sounds give way to the music of the mountains and the silence of nature." (Jan-Willem van Ewijk)

Jan-Willem van Ewijk (known to his friends as “JW”) worked as an airplane designer and for investment banks before pursuing his dream of making films. In 2006, he wrote, directed, edited and starred in his first feature film Nu., together with former bank colleagues, friends and family, which received a special mention for best first film at the Dutch Film Festival. Eight years later, Atlantic., a film about a Moroccan windsurfer, was selected for the Sundance Writer’s Lab and premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. After the pandemic, he shot two feature films in parallel: the still unreleased Pacifica, about a father who loses his teenage daughter in a shooting, and Alpha.

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Photo credits "ALPHA": © Douwe Hennink

Photo credits "EC Label Award Ceremony": © Giornate degli Autori - Moris Puccio & Giulia Barini

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