Schoem (Foam)

2k video, 18:50min, stereo sound, colour, 2025

Schoem is a poetic drama by directors Vida Kashani and Amir Komelizadeh, inspired by Ingeborg Nienhuis’ book Schoem of De Voarende Zoltkamper. Rooted in the cultural and linguistic landscape of Groningen, the film explores themes of identity, belonging, and transformation.

Set between the wild, shifting tides of the Wadden Sea and the vibrant, sometimes chaotic streets of Groningen, the story follows Hades, played by Bart Harder, a young skipper whose life is unraveling after his mother suddenly disappears. The sea becomes his refuge, a place where time seems suspended. But when Zar enters his world, a city girl with a different rhythm and a clear gaze, Hades begins to see his surroundings, and himself, in a new light.

Schoem is about navigating loss and rediscovering connection. It reflects the inner tides of growing up, letting go, and redefining one’s roots. The film mirrors the contrasts that are central to the directors’ own experiences: tradition and modernity, stillness and movement, home and displacement. These oppositions echo the universal feeling of being in-between—between cultures, languages, or emotional states.

Through its poetic visuals and layered soundscape, Schoem offers a quiet, tender look at change, not as something to fear, but as something inevitable and, at times, liberating. It is a story for anyone who has ever found themselves suspended between worlds, trying to make sense of where they come from and where they’re going.