World premiere

Sunday Ninth

Local title
Üheksas pühapäev
Original title
Zondag de Negenste
Director
Kat Steppe
Country
Belgium
Year
2025
Festival
29th Black Nights Film Festival
Programme
First Feature Competition
Genre
Drama, Dramedy, Social drama
Subject
elderly people, familial relationships, love, sibling relationships, journey

Is it possible to find reconciliation in the depths of fading memory?

Horst is a man whose life has been overshadowed by missed opportunities. Now, in a nursing home and with Alzheimer’s disease eroding his remaining memories, he is reunited with a brother he hasn’t spoken to in 30 years. Franz, who is in financial trouble and covets an inheritance, sees his brother as both an adversary and the only witness to their shared life, full of lost opportunities and unredeemed guilt.

Memories emerge like flashes in the dark. They reveal traces of brotherly love and envy: a jilted bride, a mother lost in Lourdes and silent guilt. Each memory is like a piece of a puzzle, attempting to piece together the whole picture. However, the more pieces that appear, the less certain it seems that the whole ever existed.

“Sunday Ninth” intertwines the stories of real nursing home residents with the fictional tale of the brothers, transforming each memory into a question that defines who we are and our reason for existence. It is precisely where reality and fiction intertwine that we gain an intimate glimpse into memory, a kingdom where the shadows of lost days lie alongside the hope of a better tomorrow.

Elise Jagomägi

Director
Kat Steppe
Screenwriter
Kat Steppe
Cast
Peter Van Den Begin, Frank Lammers, Yoann Blanc, Edwige Baily, Lou Goossens, Mil Sinaeve, Tibbe Walckiers, Isabelle Van Hecke, Kristien De Proost, Josse De Pauw
Producer
Kato Maes, Sofie Rooseleer
Cinematographer
Renaat Lambeets
Production Design
Gert Stas
Editing
Jan Van Der Weken
Music
Pieter Van Dessel
Sound
Taco Drijfhout, Jaap Sijben
Production
Panenka
Distribution
Paradiso Filmed Entertainment
Sound
Sonhouse
Runtime
Language
Dutch, French
Subtitles
Estonian, English
Director
Kat Steppe

Award for the best film, grant of 5000€ by