Together with a group of kindred spirits, filmmaker Marc Schmidt explores the feeling of emptiness and the ways people attempt to fill it. In this deeply personal journey into excess and insatiability, he seeks to understand his late father. A young mother tries to numb the void with her daily binge eating, a sex-addicted woman searches for a man who can heal her, and a sailor takes on the ultimate confrontation with emptiness by crossing the Atlantic Ocean alone. These portraits touch on pressing contemporary themes—deepfake, eating disorders, addiction, identity, and intergenerational trauma—resulting in a highly personal yet universally resonant exploration of a shared experience in Western societies. As the film unfolds, it gradually becomes clear that Marc, like his father, knows the emptiness that lurks behind excess.
This is a special screening of the documentary Hoe Te Verdwijnen (How to Disappear). After the film, there will be a discussion with director Marc Schmidt and Tessa Roseboom, Professor of Early Development and Health at the University of Amsterdam. Roseboom leads a team of researchers at Amsterdam UMC and is the director of the Amsterdam Reproduction & Development research institute. She is also a strong advocate for greater attention to the first few years of life, as early experiences can have lifelong effects. Intergenerational trauma is a key theme in How to Disappear, and this discussion will bring together Schmidt, Roseboom, and the audience to explore its impact.