Kauwboy

Jojo turns to a young jackdaw for comfort when he finds none at home.

Even if a screening is sold out, tickets are often available 30 minutes before the start of the film at the box office at each venue.


Image gallery

  • Director Boudewijn Koole
  • Producer Wilant Boekelman, Jan van der Zanden
  • Screenwriter Boudewijn Koole, Jolein Laarman
  • With Rick Lens, Loek Peters, Susan Radder
  • Netherlands 2011
  • 81 mins
  • Sales Delphis Films

Recommended ages 8+

Ten-year-old Jojo may as well live alone. Dad always seems to be at work and when he is at home, he often drinks before crashing out for the night. Mum, a singer, is away on tour – isn’t she? To escape the increasing pressures he faces at home, Jojo turns to water polo to keep himself occupied, but Dad seems to be in denial and sometimes takes his problems out on him. Jojo finds a young jackdaw and immediately forms a bond that keeps his morale up and gives him a sense of purpose. He knows that his father will never allow him to keep it, so he begins the secret enterprise of nursing the bird back to full strength. But how long will he be able to keep it a secret? Koole’s first feature film is an elegiac triumph. The central relationship of Jojo and his father is both dangerous and touching and if there was a prize for best performance by a bird in a feature film then this jackdaw would surely give Kes a run for his money.
Justin Johnson

Director statement

The original idea for Kauwboy grew out of one of my childhood memories. One spring when I was young, a crow came to my window and stayed for three months. I later read somewhere that these birds can become very attached to humans if they are separated from their parents at an early age. Because I also like to see the father-son relationship I put this together with a smart bird, with later turned out to be a jackdaw. Together with Jolein Laarman I wrote the story of Kauwboy. I hope you have as much fun watching the film Kauwboy as I did making it. Enjoy!
Boudewijn Koole

Director biography

Born in 1965, he majored in Industrial Design at the University of Delft, but subsequently trained himself as a documentary filmmaker. His recent films often focus on children or young people with whom he develops a close working relation. Illusions are central theme in most of his work: ‘Film is illusion, a game of light which confronts us with our hidden desires’. He also works as an editor with a VPRO television youth series and is a member of the advisory board of Stimuleringsfonds, one of the leading Dutch art funds.

Filmography

1996 Letters from Belfast [3xTV doc s]
1997 Caravan 2 [doc s]; The Boxer and the Poet [doc s]
1998 Pierlala [doc]
1999 Scream of a Daughter [doc s]; Warriors of the Heart [doc s]
2000 Young Eyes [doc s]; Tommie [doc s]
2001 There is a Wall in Belfast [doc]
2002 Delusion [doc]
2004 Zooey [doc]; From Holland [doc]
2005 I Am the Greatest [doc s]; Surviving in the Netherlands [3x doc s]; Adnan [doc s]
2007 Trage liefde (Drawn Out Love)
2009 Maite war hier [TV]
2011 Surprising Europe [doc]
2012 Happily Ever After [doc]; A River Left for Me [doc]; Kauwboy

Read the Time Out review.