Workshop with the Dardenne Brothers

The Kid with a Bike, a movie by the famed Belgian directors and two-time Palme D'Or winners, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, was screened on the fifth day of Kustendorf as part of the CONTEMPORARY TRENDS Programme. The movie deals with twelve-year-old Cyril whose father leaves him in an orphanage. He accidentally meets the owner of a hair salon, Samantha, who spends weekends with him trying to give him the love that he was deprived of by his parents and subsiding his anger.

After the screening, the Dardenne brothers held a workshop the crowded Damned Yard cinema. They expressed their gratitude for the invitation to be guests of Kustendorf, and without hiding their enchantment with what they saw during their stay in Serbia, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne spoke to the gathered students, journalists, and guests of the festival about their work, about the way they choose the topics that they will deal with in their movies, and about working with the actors and crew on set.

In response to the question of how they came to the idea for the script of a movie whose simple yet captivating story doesn't leave anyone unmoves, the Dardenne brothers explained that they first heard the story in Japan in 2002.

- We heard a story about a boy whose mother and grandmother passed away, and the father abandoned him. He left him, promising that he will return for him, which never happened. The boy waited for a long time and he was always running away from the orphanage. When he turned 18 and left it for good, he became the head of a gang and a murderer. We were moved by this story and we tried to make a script based on it several times. Three years ago, we succeeded upon combining the Japanese tale of abandonment with a story we were unable to produce in which the character of Samantha appears. It is a story about destiny and about whether it is possible to save someone’s life with love, - they explained.

Admitting that they are glad that the audience had the opportunity to change their opinion of the characters several times throughout the movie, Luc Dardenne explained that their idea was not for the characters to be judged, despite knowing that that's difficult to avoid and that the viewers are always deciding who is good and who is bad.

- Children generally don’t ask themselves whether their parents love them. With Cyril that is not the case. Samantha’s love can save him and he ultimately understands that she loves him and that she will provide him with a childhood. She is ready to take the risk. - added Jean-Pierre.

Analyzing in detail the characters, motivations, and situations in the movie that won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and the European Movie Award for best script, the Dardenne brothers delighted the audience, receiving an applause in response to every answer.