Photo: Emma Branderhorst

With three audacious short films under her belt, Dutch filmmaker Emma Branderhorst is about to embark upon her feature debut. Titled This Will Not End Well*, the film follows Sarah (27) as she struggles to understand why her best friend Vicky has suddenly ended their friendship. Little by little, fragments of their life together reveal not only their closeness but also the growing suffocation that has ultimately turned them into strangers.

“I think the key feature is that we really dive into a relationship between two people. I really explore the grief of a lost friendship,” Branderhorst tells SEE NL of the film. “It's once more a very recognisable topic, told from a very personal perspective. We have clear rituals for romantic endings, conversations, closure, even clichés about heartbreak, but friendship break-ups often happen without explanation. That lack of recognition fascinated me, after being through an intense friendship break-up myself. The grief exists, but it’s quieter and harder to place. And I think it’s something we’re not very comfortable with, in our society.”

 For this film, Branderhorst is taking on writing, as well as director, duties. “My films are always very personal, and writing this one myself allowed me to stay closer to the emotional core. When a story comes from an experience I deeply relate to, I prefer to shape it from the inside, starting from something real and then transforming it into fiction. Writing gives me the freedom to dramatize those emotions without losing the intimacy that inspired the film in the first place.”

And in so doing, Branderhorst shows us the minutiae of the situation. Her stories are told via observation rather than words. “I’m interested in watching a character search for answers instead of giving the audience clear reasons why a relationship no longer works. In My Mother and I*(2023), we never fully define the moment things change, we simply follow the process of letting go. Through small gestures and everyday interactions, you begin to understand why two people slowly drift apart. I trust what is felt and observed more than what is explained.”

Once again, the characters in the film are the same age as director Branderhorst, who continues her practice of chronicling the times through direct observation of her contemporaries. “It's still kind-of coming of age, I think, in a way, because they're now adults. This film is turned much more towards adulthood than it is towards teenagers, like my short films.”

Branderhorst is a keen cinephile who watches everything that is released in the cinema, but right now she is especially keen on seeing what fellow debutants are up to. (Last year she served on the Berlinale Generation jury.)

“I really try not to compare myself to different filmmakers because I truly, truly believe that every filmmaker has a different voice. That's what makes you unique in what you do. I know for sure that no one can make the film that I'm making right now because it's so specific to me, and such a personal journey, such a personal thing that I experienced.”

 That said, she is very much inspired by what she sees, notably the work of Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World, Sentimental Value) and Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire).

“What I admire in Joachim Trier’s work is the emotional precision. His films never feel over-dramatised, the tension lives in small moments, in conversations that feel unfinished or sometimes even uncomfortable. It feels very close to real life.”

Branderhorst particularly admires Celine Sciamma’s method of prep. “She writes a lot of scenes and then she picks out the most important ones. They become the core of her film, and she builds her film around that.”

She also loves the work of Dutch director Peter Hoogendoorn (Three Days of Fish) and the way he concentrates as much on character development as story. “Films should not only be driven by plot,” Branderhorst underlines.

 The thing about writing screenplays is that it can be a very solitary process, especially for somebody as sociable as Branderhorst, which is why she is looking forward to Berlinale Talents as a moment of “creative exchange.”

“Writing can feel quite isolating, you spend a lot of time alone with your thoughts and I get a lot of energy from being around other filmmakers,” she says.

“I’m especially excited about the masterclass with Chloé Zhao and the cinematography sessions with Kaspar Tuxen. I’m really curious to learn more about their way of filmmaking. And of course, to meet other filmmakers who are navigating similar questions. For me it’s not just about networking, it’s about getting inspired again and expanding my perspective through dialogue.”

 “So I'm looking forward to all that, and just to broaden once again my horizon a little bit more,” she signs off.

Find out more about the Berlinale here.

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*film supported by the Netherlands Film Fund