Het Puntje x Movies that Matter: The Mind Game

• Date: 01 August
• Time: 19:00 - 22:00
• Location: Het Puntje

This summer, together with beach club Het Puntje, we are organizing a film festival at the very tip of Scheveningen! Three evenings with three films that invite reflection, conversation and connection.

On Friday, August 1, the documentary The Mind Game (2023) will be shown. When he was 14, Sajid Khan Nasiri fled Afghanistan on his own. After a two-year journey full of danger and hardship - which he recorded in detail with his phone - he arrives in Belgium. There, a whole new struggle begins. From the makers of the award-winning documentary Shadow Game.

About the film

They call it “the game”: the perilous journey that many unaccompanied minors take in search of protection in Western Europe. For Sajid Khan Nasiri, the game began at 14, after the Taliban killed his father. Through Iran and Turkey to Eastern Europe, he gets closer and closer to his final destination, hounded by violent policemen and hostile civilians. In clips recorded with his phone camera, and in messages to filmmakers Eefje Blankevoort and Els van Driel, he reports.

He is sure that when he arrives, he can relax, go to school and start a new life. But once in Belgium, a new game begins: the mind game. How does a child cope with the enormous mental pressure of the journey, distrustful authorities, and disturbing news from the home front? An intimate documentary about the psychological pressure to which young refugees are exposed.

Peripheral program

The film will be accompanied by an introduction and follow-up discussion led by Karlijn Limaheluw, Head of Education at Movies that Matter. Karlijn is a facilitator, chairman of the day and a versatile education professional with a focus on social issues.

Practical information

• Date: Friday, Aug. 1, 8 p.m.
• Language and subtitles: Dutch
• Admission: €9.79 (excl. service charge)
• Tickets: buy your ticket through Het Puntje
• Location: De Komma (the annex of Het Puntje), Strand Noord 3N, 2586 ZZ The Hague. See how to get to the location here. Feel like having something to eat before the movie at Het Puntje? Then come on time, preferably an hour beforehand or earlier, so you can enjoy the film in peace and everything will be ready in time.

This screening is made possible by Fonds 1818.

Show on map