Gijs and Reinout Scholten van Aschat play father and son in ALPHA
Gijs and Reinout Scholten van Aschat will be seen together in the new feature film ALPHA, filming of which started this week. In this existential adventure, a young snowboard instructor (Reinout Scholten van Aschat) sets off into the high mountains of the Alps with his father (Gijs Scholten van Aschat), where they become embroiled in a battle with nature and with each other. ALPHA. is written and directed by Jan-Willem van Ewijk (ATLANTIC.). Shooting of the film will take place in Slovenia and Switzerland in the coming weeks.
Synopsis:
In this existential adventure, Rein, a snowboard instructor working in the Alps, is visited by his father Willem from the Netherlands. The two trek into the high mountains with their skis and snowboard, where their characters clash head-on with each other and with the overwhelming nature around them.
Jan-Willem van Ewijk: “I am enormously looking forward to going into the spectacular high mountains of the Alps with Reinout and Gijs, where they will battle with each other and the overwhelming nature.”
Gijs Scholten van Aschat: “When Reinout and I were asked by Jan-Willem for this special project, I realised that it will be the first time we will play together, and also father and son.”
Reinout Scholten van Aschat: “We have actually been rehearsing for this for 33 years, and we feel that when we play. We don’t actually play. We are. And the setting makes it absurd and epic, with the overwhelming alps as the backdrop.”
ALPHA. is Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s fourth feature film. In 2006, he made his debut with the film NU. which premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival. This was followed in 2014 by his second feature film ATLANTIC. which was selected for International Film Festival Toronto. In autumn 2022, he shot his third feature film SLEEP. which is currently in post-production.
ALPHA. is a production of BALDR Film (BROthers, ALONG THE WAY, THOSE WHO FEEL THE FIRE BURNING) in coproduction with Lomotion (CH) and Staragara (SL), VPRO, SRF (CH) and is made with support from the NL Filmfund, NL Film Production Incentive, CoBO, BAK, Slovenian Film Centre and Creative Europe, among others.
Distributor September Film will release ALPHA. in cinemas next year.