Capsule Review: The Origin of Trouble

The winner of the Best Dutch Short at this year's Go Short, The Origin of Trouble  by Tessa Louise Pope is an autobiographical documentary in the purest sense of the word. The 27 year-old filmmaker explores her distant relationship with her father, a consequence of a complicated series of events from before she was born. Pope interviews her father, mother, and their other partners and spouses, as well as brother and half-sisters, and mixes this with old home videos, as well as some atmospheric, super 8mm footage she shot with her father in Amsterdam.

Right after Pope's mother got pregnant with her, she told her husband that she is in love with their son's babysitter. Father soon found another girlfriend and got her pregnant too, so within a year he got two daughters. All these events, and more, are told through a very comprehensible narrative, masterfully edited together to constitute an emotional, touching, but also somewhat bitter story of family relations and growing up.

Film Information

Original Title: The Origin of Trouble 

Director: Tessa Louise Pope

Country: The Netherlands

Year: 2017

Run Time: 30 mins

Contact: Some Shorts, info@someshorts.com