Director BIO: Jelle Bleyenbergh (THE FLOW)

In May 2017, I traveled to Iceland with three friends from film school and a load of camera equipment. Four people and our gear, all crammed up into this tiny car, driving around the south coast and beyond. You can imagine the fun we were having, even through wind and rain – and we got plenty of that!

All of us challenged each other to write a little screenplay, and we would aid one another into making it into a real film.

To come up with a story, it wasn’t hard to look at myself being in this amazing country. But mostly, I looked inward. How would this breathtaking environment, full of landscapes and waterfalls, influence me? And how would that influence translate to a short but clear story arc?

So, ‘The Flow’ – known as ‘Further’ during production – would be a story about needing guidance or direction, and ultimately about letting go of that. We live our lives by rules and following directions, but when you can truly open your eyes and see the world, you might see that you can live a better life without them.

What better way to represent the need for guidance than a compass, held firmly by the main character, as he’s forced to leave his regular mode of transportation and get to his destination by basic means. That’s the beauty of film without dialogue: you’re looking at purely visual means to tell your story.

Production was amazing, because we could all settle for shooting guerrilla style – even my actor, Stefán, whom we had a great time with. All we needed was the environment and 100% passion by everyone involved. ‘The Flow’ is far from perfect, but it shows how you can effectively make a little film for fun and still have something to tell the audience. That is all the guidance I could ever hope to offer.