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ROOKIE

By Lieven VAN BAELEN

CZAR FILM - as PROD

Drama - Completed 2021

- Year of production
- 2021
- Genres
- Drama, Sport, Family
- Countries
- BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS
- Languages
- DUTCH
- Budget
- 1 - 3 M$
- Duration
- 102 mn
- Director(s)
- Lieven VAN BAELEN
- Writer(s)
- Lieven VAN BAELEN, Charlie BRAFMAN, Magnus MCCULLAGH
- Cast
- Matteo SIMONI, Valentijn BRAECKMAN, Veerle BAETENS, Stefaan DEGAND, Tibo VANDENBORRE, Bjarne DEVOLDER, Guy COMBES
- ISAN
- 0000-0004-E9DC-0000-1-0000-0000-Y
- Producer(s)
- Eurydice GYSEL (CZAR FILM), Koen MORTIER (CZAR FILM), Frank HOEVE (Baldr Film)
- Synopsis
- Nicky (28) is a promising amateur motorcycle racer. He lives out of the back of his van and saves every penny he has on his bike. He breathes racing, risking all and putting his life on the line with each race. He’s about to turn into a pro, making him a local hero. But disaster strikes when he gets into a motorbike accident, preventing him to ever race again. Nicky tries to build a new life for himself, but when he comes to sell his old bike, it proves a step too much… He gifts it to his nephew Charlie (15) and encourages him to start racing. He tries to relive his lost dream by pressuring Charlie to compete but this will only cause his own downfall. Charlie’s mother Vero (34), who was married to Nicky’s older brother, who died some ten years ago in a racing accident, already lived through the death of her husband and the crippling of her brother-in-law through racing. There is no way she will let anything happen to her son. Charlie meanwhile has his own decisions to make, torn, as he is, between two irreconcilable futures: the thrill and the danger of the race and the love of his uncle or the possibility of a quieter family life and getting a ‘proper’ job…
  
  ROOKIE is a story about lost dreams, second chances, and family, set against the high-octane, adrenaline-fueled world of independent motorcycle racing. Racers are modern day gladiators. They put their lives on the line at each and every race. They don’t risk their lives for money, they dare their live for the sake of racing, for the joy and the adrenaline. Most of the racers can’t even afford anything else than their bike. For Nicky, this constant quest for money, his struggle to make ends meet, reflects the social aspect of the film. Within this world, we find a universal and human story.