Alone in the World

Dutch poets Simon Vinkenoog and Cor Vaandrager, and feminist director Nouchka van Brakel were very much "children of their time." In the tumultuous 1960s, they went against the establishment and experimented with drugs and free sex, but they didn't have much time for their own children. In one of the many archive excerpts, Vinkenoog explains that he sees life as a "freefall." His advice is to "Fall as freely as possible, have no fear, just let yourself fall, and be yourself at all times." And that's how children should feel, too, but it's not how their own kids experienced childhood. Alex Vinkenoog, Sandrien van Brakel and Marcus Muzea (Vaandrager's stepson) talk about their youth and the impact of this lack of attention on their lives. They're certainly doing things very differently with their own children. The 1960s archive footage also features Alex and Sandrien as children. They are especially bitter about their famous folks. Director Denise Janszée previously made a film about her relationship with her own famous mother, Dutch actress Willeke van Ammelrooy. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)