User Reviews

"Ik ben echt niet bang!" or "I'm Never Afraid!" is a 20-minute documentary short film from 6 years ago written and directed by Dutch filmmaker Willem Baptist. And I cannot say I enjoyed his work here. First of all, almost all the interviews seem very scripted to me with only one intention. To make this all look as sad and heartbreaking as possible. That was certainly his intention. The really sad thing, however, is that he forgot to tell us an appealing story while shoving all this tear-jerk stuff into our faces. Yes he does not only push mud into our faces at the end of the film, but actually goo from start to finish. This and the stereotypically random story of the little boy living his dream despite his illness and his family members' struggles are truly the essence of the film and not in a positive way at all. Also, I would like to emphasize the ending credits. There is a mention of a "dedicated to" and the person listed there is actually another young boy who was a successful motorbike racer, so the irony with this film is priceless. Why would parents let such young kids participate in these races with machines that they are obviously not capable of controlling 100%? This is the death threat everybody should be talking about, not the boy's illness. I really feel sorry for the boy, not only because his parents let him do what he does, but also because they agreed to letting him "star" in this film here. Not recommended and my suggestion to the people who gave awards to these 20 minutes is to actually think about the films they are watching instead of brainlessly sucking them in.