The Dutch screenwriter, director and animator Naomi Noir creates often absurdist works devoted to the inner worlds of her unique characters. Her films draw inspiration from pub tales, reality television and the painful topics most of us try to avoid.
What was your starting point for „Mother’s Child„?
I felt an urgent need to make the film. I felt this urgency, to share the world I grew up with, the world usually only seen within the privacy of the four walls of a home. I grew up with my mother constantly having to call various institutions in order to protect my brother’s rights or simply to explain his condition, over and over again. Healthcare and government institutions constantly ask the same things and question everything you say. It’s dehumanizing, having to dredge up the difficulties of your daily life and pour your heart out in the face of endless documents and telephone calls. The most obtuse questions are asked. There are so many misconceptions from outsiders, as well as friends. Mother’s Child speaks to that.
Do you have a favorite moment in the film? Which one and why this one in particular?
My favorite moments are when the animation, music and sound design perfectly collide together. Especially during those moments in the film, I feel like a very fortunate woman that I am able to make films – with a fantastic crew and cast. One example of moments like these is the first scene, when the curtains open up and the beautiful vocals of the choir (Merel Onrust, Eoghan Ruddy, Kris McDonald) start the film. My favorite moment would be the conversation of Mary with her own mother, when she is dreaming. Although not much of a cozy moment, I poured my heart out in the linework of that scene. The music composer, Kris McDonald corresponded to that so open heartedly. Mary constantly has her guard up – she can’t be tired or catch a break. It’s a full circle moment when she does – in the presence of a memory of her own mother. Kris really took the time to experiment, as well as pay homage to the traditional touch I wanted the music to have.
On top of that, the sound designer Sietske Brockhoff, is quite the pitbull. We would endlessly talk about how much bass and body we wanted the sound of the telephones ringing in the dream sequence to have, as well as how we wanted the fruit machine in the pub to sound. She likes enriching sound to very abstract movement as well, it was fascinating to watch.
But of course, as I’m quite a pub queen myself, so I do really enjoy the pub scene as well.
What do you like about the short form?
That I’m able to overload it. I love vomiting symbolism, witty detail and the challenge of cramming everything seamlessly into nine minutes of film. In the passion of this marathon, there is not much time to overthink. Which makes way for more unrefined, raw imagery. Also the accessibility of short film is interesting to me. You don’t need a long attention span to watch a film of nine minutes. It’s a brief visual excursion. Yet so much information or impact can be passed on to the viewer.
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INTERVIEWS
„I don’t watch that many animations actually, because at some point when you animate as much as I do, you can’t watch them anymore because your mind will just explode,” Noir confides. “But there are so many possibilities in David Lynch’s drawings and they are very inspiring to me. They are obscure and quite dark. And in my opinion, some things in life are obscure and quite dark.“
interview with Naomi Noir for SEE NL
„Mon propre style d’animation 2D est souvent décrit comme un peu brut ou approximatif. Mon approche aussi, je dirais. Je dessine surtout quand je suis en colère, triste, confuse ou frustrée. Mais je ne pense pas que quand je dessine, je m’autorise simplement à me sentir confuse. J’aime dessiner comme si je faisais un puzzle.“
interview with Naomi Noir for Le Polyester
Ein Gespräch mit der niederländischen Animationskünstlerin Naomi Noir: über ihre Lust zu animieren, ihren ganz persönlichen Zugang zu neuen Welten und die Zukunft der Animation – aus ihrer Perspektive.
ARTE Kurzschluss – das Kurzfilm-Magazin | Interview mit Naomi Noir Regisseurin von „Mother’s Child“
7 Min. | Sendung vom 09/11/2025
„My style is something I can’t really control. I’ve got a certain inability to draw realistically haha. To some they are disturbing. To me they’re just a reflection of how I often feel. […] If it wouldn’t look a bit disturbing or emotionally realistic, people wouldn’t feel the urgency of the subject I think.“
interview with Naomi Noir for Testkammer
PRESS REVIEWS
„Egalement sélectionné en compétition, Mother’s Child est porté par une animation surprenante et anguleuse dont les silhouettes dramatiques évoquent Egon Schiele et suggèrent une violence même quand celle-ci est absente à l’écran. La Néerlandaise Naomi Noir signe une merveille surréaliste et profondément humaine, qui compte parmi les tout-meilleurs films vus à la Berlinale.“
review by Nicolas Bardot & Gregory Goutaut for Le Polyester
„[T]hrough the film’s acute ear for dialogue, quintessentially English details (an ugly bulldog, bald-men-in-the-pub, a propa cup for tea) and oneiric tone, Moir creates a sense of hard-won empathy, making the impossible feel a little more bearable.“
review by Redmond Bacon for Journey into Cinema
„Telefongespräche und ein Schlund aus Bürokratie engen den Alltag der Hauptfigur immer weiter ein, die unter wabernden und hallenden Gedanken und surrealen Bildverschränkungen unterzugehen droht. Einen richtigen Ausweg gibt es in Naomi Noirs persönlicher wie einschnürender Kurzfilmstudie nicht: es bleibt nur in einem Meer aus klingelnden Telefonen zu ertrinken. Oder einfach, das Babyphone fest umklammert, eine Weile einzuschlafen.“
review by Paul Seidel for Riecks Filmkritiken
„Mother’s Child“ ist ein Kurzfilm der Regisseurin Naomi Noir, die darin mit eigenwilligen aber gelungenen Animationen – einem Mix aus 2D und 3D – die Geschichte der häuslichen Pflege eines erwachsenen Kindes erzählt und dabei auf die Hürden, Sorgen und den sehr anstrengenden Alltag aufmerksam macht.
review by Doreen Kaltenecker for Testkammer
„Ungewöhnlich ist jedoch die visuelle Umsetzung, bei der die Figuren nur schemenhaft sind, filigrane Gestalten, bei denen die Grenzen nicht immer klar umrandet sind. Das gilt auch für die Trennung von Realität und Vorstellungskraft. Beschränken sich die Besonderheiten zunächst auf die Optik, wird Mother’s Child im weiteren Verlauf zunehmend surreal. Der graue, anstrengende Alltag wird zu einem sonderbaren Alptraum, in dem sich alles auflöst. Das wird manchen vielleicht zu sonderbar sein, zu fremd und distanziert. Aber es ist doch ein faszinierendes Werk, das uns Regisseurin und Co-Autorin Naomi Noir da vorgelegt hat und das bei aller Fremdheit eine stark humanistische Note hat.“
review by Oliver Armknecht for filmrezensionen.de
„The selection is rounded off by a number of animations, including the amazing Mother’s Child by Naomi Noir (Netherlands), which champions those who must give full-time care to loved ones while drowning in a sea of bureaucracy […].“
mention by Laurence Boyce for Cineuropa
„Weitere Filme porträtieren zudem Mütter. […] Der Animationsfilm Mother’s Child von Naomi Noir gibt jenen Frauen eine Stimme, die sich selbstaufopfernd um andere kümmern und dabei sich selbst verlieren.“
mention by Peter Bratenstein for zeitgeschichte online
„Also in the Berlinale Shorts competition, animated short Mother’s Child written, directed, animated and coproduced by Naomi Noir, her graduation film for the Utrecht University of the Arts.“
mention by SEE NL
„In einem weiteren Animationsfilm, Mother’s Child von Naomi Noir, Niederlande 2024, kümmert sich eine alleinerziehende Mutter namens Mary um ihren 25-jährigen Sohn, der mit Zerebralparese lebt.“
mention by Isabel Roy & Verena Nees for World Socialist Web Site
reactions on letterboxd
Berlinale Shorts 