“In Your Shadow is vital because it makes visible something that exists in so many families and societies: the silence that grows around trauma,” Dutch producer Renko Douze (Een van de jongens) tells BDE of Thabi Mooi & Tom Fassaert’s work-in-progress In Your Shadow, presented at NLWave25. In the feature doc, after thirty years of silence, filmmaker Thabi takes her father on a journey to confront his past as a soldier in the South African liberation struggle.
“For as long as I can remember, my father’s silence has cast a shadow over our family,” Thabi underlines. “He never spoke about his past – not about the war, the struggle, the flight or the fear. I grew up learning to tiptoe around it, to never ask. But silence doesn’t erase what came before; it embeds it deeper. When I became a mother, that silence suddenly became unbearable. I wanted to raise my daughter in openness, not in the echo of unspoken things. This film is my attempt to break that silence, not only to understand who my father really is, but to see how his untold story has shaped my own.”
Producer Douze articulates the respective strengths of both directors, and why be believes In Your Shadow is a solid vehicle for investment.
“Thabi has the courage to enter spaces most of us avoid: the unspoken, the uncomfortable, the deeply personal. As a filmmaker and daughter she creates access that is both intimate and raw, while never losing sight of the larger historical and social context,” he says. “Tom brings the cinematic eye and narrative precision to transform that intimacy into layered storytelling.”
“From a business perspective, the project stands on solid ground. We have strong co-producers in South Africa and France, Sundance backing, confirmed broadcasters (ARTE and EOdocs), and a strong Dutch theatrical distributor (Bantam Film). Together, this provides both financial stability and the reach the film deserves.
The filmmakers have settled on a rich and nuanced array of visual to tell the story. “In Your Shadow alternates between tender, observational moments of father and daughter, and wider, reflective images of the landscapes of [father] Kenneth’s past. Silence and stillness are just as important as dialogue. The camera doesn’t force but lingers, allowing emotions to surface in their own rhythm,” says Douze.
“Equally important are the animations, created by Naomi van Niekerk in close collaboration with Thabi and Tom,” he continues. “Rather than illustrating the story, they emerge from a collective creative process; three voices searching for a visual language for memory and trauma. These images are fragile, layered and at times unsettling, adding a poetic dimension to what cannot be directly filmed. The result is a film that is both grounded in reality and alive with metaphor.”
Dutch production company Een van de jongens, which Douze runs with partner Hasse van Nunen, is aiming for a major international premiere (ETA December 2027) followed by a long international festival trajectory, and theatrical releases in the co-producing countries and beyond.
“With earlier films, such as My Father, Nour and I (2023) we developed campaigns around dialogues that are often avoided in families or communities. That experience will feed directly into this project,” Douze adds. “Together with South African and European partners, we are designing an outreach programme that uses the film to open dialogue within families and between people who carry comparable silences, creating encounters that might not otherwise happen.”
The final word goes to Thabi, who underlines the necessity of this highly personal project. “I don’t know if this journey will bring us answers. The past is layered and unstable, and so much of it is still hidden by trauma, by fear, by loyalty,” she says. “But I do believe that healing starts with asking the question. With daring to look, even when the image is painful or incomplete. This film is that question. A last attempt, perhaps, to step out of his shadow and meet him in the light.”
