"In Europe all teenagers have problems," says Danish filmmaker Trine Pill. But not all of them solve them in the disturbing way that the protagonists of his film Nothing do, which competes for the Golden Spike at Seminci. It all starts when Pierre Anthon decides that life has no meaning and that people are nothing more than mere copies of each other. The boy is so annoyed with that idea that he climbs a tree and there is no way to get down.
His classmates from the eighth grade, between 13 and 14 years old, decide to support Pierre Anthon and show him that there are many things worth living for. They gather their most precious belongings - a few books, a fishing rod - to give to him. But soon they realize that these junk have no real value and choose to offer what really matters. They start with Ágnes's green sandals and then continue with other increasingly valuable garments. Emotionally valuable. Until reaching a limit situation.
Nothing is based on a novel by Janne Teller that Piil discovered a bit by chance: "I was invited to a friend's house in London and I couldn't sleep, I picked up a book that was lying there and I couldn't stop reading. I was passionate and thought I had to buy the rights. I went back to Denmark and called the publisher, but they told me that they were already awarded. I forgot about it until I met Teller at a dinner. He told me that the rights had been released and I acquired them, " Piil recalls in an interview with La Vanguardia.
But it was not easy for the book to become a film, because "the theme raised blisters and the Danish producer had to change for a German one." Then came the covid, which delayed filming, although Nothing immediately became a highly sought-after film that premiered at the Austin Festival and has now reached Valladolid.
The theme has a lot to do with that success, because the problems of adolescence affect parents and children alike. And in Nothing the scarce presence of the parents is part of the drama in which the mischief of the boys ends. Piil explains that "I reduced the parents to a minimum because I wanted to show that when children have problems, we often look the other way, perhaps because we do not want to accept that children are not perfect."
In addition, the director warns that "sometimes behind these problems there is a risk to the mental health of minors." However, he emphasizes that Pierre Anthon, the boy who stays to live in the tree, "is not depressed or suicidal, he is simply capable of doing something that the rest of us do not dare to do, because many times it seems obligatory to act when it's much better to stay still."
And although they say that working with children is risky, Piil had no problems on the set of Nothing, because "I lived with the actors for a while and we had sincere conversations about what is important, we talked about how complicated life is and we acquired a lot of trust. They were a group right away and now, two years later, they still see each other."
For the director, talking can be a solution for those adolescents who are out of place, because "we must assume the responsibility of changing so that young people feel better and to be able to transmit security to them and ensure that they enjoy life".
