A female pilot is travelling in a rocket ship through space, hurtling back in time from the future in order to reach planet Earth. She knows that environmental disaster awaits humanity and she wants to warn the world before it is too late. The only hitch is that when she reaches earth, her age has decreased. She is now a 12-year-old kid and adults do not take children that seriously.

This is the starting point for Maurice Trouwborst’s bold new sci-fi movie Captain Nova, scripted by Lotte Tabbers and which opens the Cinekid Festival (13-31 October). The film opens with a spectacular, Kubrick-like scene of the space shuttle hurtling towards Earth.

“The script was quite ambitious and we actually had to break down and rewrite a lot to make it work for the budget we had,” Maurice Trouwborst describes the challenge of depicting outer space when you have only modest means at your disposal. “It was a combination of really smart producing and visual effects.”

Trouwborst (whose sci-fi youth series Zenith won the Cinekid Youth Jury Award in 2018) freely admits the influence of ET and Close Encounters of The Third Kind on his filmmaking. “I am a big Spielberg fan,” he declares. “The whole wonder and the mysterious layer that is in the film, that is something very much inspired by films like ET, Close Encounters and even The Goonies.”

The two main roles, those of pilot Nova transformed into a young girl (Kika van de Vijver) and the boy Nas who is first to find her (Marouane Meftah), were very carefully cast.

“Working with kids is not that much different from working with adults for me,” Trouwborst suggests. “You have to pick them very carefully… sometimes it is a lot more effort directing adults because they try too hard. With kids, if you direct them well, it will be more natural quite fast.”

For obvious reasons, the pool of young acting talent is smaller in the Netherlands than in, say, the US or UK. Nonetheless, there are gems to be discovered. Trouwborst generally tries to cast blind. He will not know much in advance about the kids he is seeing. “I am not really that specific in what I am looking for. I just try to see as many talents as possible that sit in a very broad range between the ages [of the roles needing to be cast] and then I will just check who is the most inspiring.”

For Nova, the astronaut/airforce pilot in a child’s body, the director was looking for ”a girl with a very old soul.” The up and coming Kika van de Vijver fit the bill perfectly. She had a poise and maturity far beyond her years. “I immediately knew it was her.”

As for Marouane Meftah as Nova’s friend, the young actor immediately charmed Trouwborst with his openness and humour. In real life, he is a kick boxer with a big personality. He also has prior acting experience having appeared in crime series, Mocro Maffia.

Trouwborst faced a delicate challenge in making Captain Nova. On the one hand, this is an upbeat sci-fi adventure which is intended to entertain audiences. On the other, it is dealing with dark themes about global warming and environmental destruction. “It is quite difficult to make a film about climate change and be very positive,” the director says.

“The reality is quite grim… what I really wanted to do was to make a film that is really serious, not too childish.”

This is not one of those kids’ movies that is escapist and cartoonish. The director hopes the film will encourages young viewers to think about the subjects it raises and to challenge adults who ignore global warming.

Captain Nova will be released in the Netherlands in December by Gusto Entertainment. Director Trouwborst is currently directing the fifth and final season of the kids’ series De Regels van Floor (Floor Rules!).

“After that I am not really sure,” the director reflects on where his career might take him now. “I have been doing children’s films and series for six years now. I am not sure if I want to go that way again.” Whatever happens, he says, he does not want “to do children’s films that are too childish.”

Captain Nova is produced by Keplerfilm. International sales are handled by Beta Film. It is film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and Production Incentive.