Nostalgia and Paranoia

It's the hot summer of 1972: the Americans launch their last mission to the moon; also a time of dungarees and hallucinogenic wallpaper. On the eighth floor of a new Dutch apartment block, 12-year-old Duch lives with his family. His hobbies are space travel and Mary, the pretty woman next door. Duch’s father prefers to watch the neighbour who recently moved in two doors down. Her arrival makes the residents aware of the free-sex morality. Up until now it had left the eighth floor untouched, but that is clearly not to everyone’s satisfaction.

The film follows the chaotic shoot of a Jules Verne–style period science-fiction film. Artificial, cardboard-like sets merge reality and fantasy as actors wander off into a forest; meanwhile Tuinder becomes entangled in conflicts on-set and a secret crush on lead actress Tara Elders. The layers are anchored by Tuinder’s reflective voice-over and his recurring character Sally de Winter, a platinum-haired girl in a pink dress carrying a mysterious suitcase.