Frank

PAUL (13), after yet another fight with his father, is forced to move in with his uncle AIVAR (32) for a few days. Those few days turn into several weeks. In an unfamiliar small town, Paul joins a local gang led by the violent JASPER (14). Paul meets a strange man with a disability, FRANK, and an unusual friendship starts to develop between them, though Paul is reluctant to admit this to the other boys.

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

I have come across many stories of children being bullied, not only by their peers, but also by their family members. The worries and insecurities of children today are not much different from my own childhood. Nearing the teen years, the growing need to “find one's place in the world” can be incredibly difficult for a young soul, especially when there is no reliable mentor to support and guide them on this journey—be it a parent, teacher, or friend. With Fränk, I mainly want to raise the question: what social and familial issues can turn a person into a monster, and how, if at all, could those people be guided back onto the right path? Our youth-oriented drama focuses on a teenage boy who has spent most of his childhood in a violent environment. We witness his journey to purgatory, but also see that with the right people by his side, it’s possible to overcome any hardships. The theme of the need for warmth and love is what drove me to make this film. I haven't been untouched by mental and physical violence either. I grew up in a family where one member would drink themselves into a cycle every summer, and where love was a strange word that was only used by fictional characters in Hollywood movies. I’ve seen the long-term negative journeys and experiences of my peers, which still affect them nearly twenty years later. To this day, I can see how very few of my schoolmates from troubled families have managed to find a positive foundation in life. I don’t only want to talk about how bullying is bad. I want to show and explain why a bully becomes a bully, and how the world could be a much better place if we tried to understand that even the most unpleasant among us are simply people shaped and driven by the burdens of their past