Sovereign Son

A father he never knew

As a baby, Marcus van Belkum met his father Stanley Powton once. Years later, he hears that Stanley was found dead in a self-built tent on the outskirts of Amsterdam, where he had presumably been lying for months. In Sovereign Son, Marcus returns to the place where his father lived and died. What begins as a search for a missing man slowly grows into something bigger: Marcus' own desire to live outside the system.

Identity, masculinity and the manosphere

The more Marcus learns about his father, the more strongly he identifies with him. His distrust of institutions grows and he becomes fascinated by ideas from the online manosphere, which promise control, self-reliance and a life on one's own terms. Filmmaker Cindy Jansen follows this process closely, even at the moments when her perspective clashes with Marcus'.

Sovereign Son at De Balie

Marcus' fantasies about masculinity and freedom take shape in the film through glossy AI images, which emphasize the alienating character of his inner world. In this way, Sovereign Son poses a question that reaches further than one story: how do the images and ideas you consume online shape the image you have of yourself? Are you interested in this documentary by director Cindy Jansen? Use the link on this page for tickets.