As we watch this delicate yet optimistic film by Anthony Schatteman, full of love, sincerity, and light, we gradually come to understand his fears and anxieties...
Although the Jewish community, Black people, LGBTQ+ individuals are politically active in the twenty-first century and continue to wrest away the rights they are entitled to by birth, the reflection of this onto the streets is going through a very long and troubled process.
Never mind third-world countries, how many hate crime attacks have been carried out even in G7 countries such as the USA and the EU in the past year, and in many of these attacks the victims were adolescents or children...
Films like Close (2022), Waking Up in Vegas (2023), Monster (2023), etc. Are necessary for this very reason... This is why they are important. To make people feel that they are not alone.
Young Hearts is the first feature film by award-winning short film and television director Anthony Schatteman. As he said at the Berlinale, he has made a film that he himself would have wanted to watch when he was young and struggling with his own feelings.
I had been waiting for this film for nearly 2 years, and it was well worth the wait... The world premiere of Young Hearts took place on February 17, 2024, in the Generation 14plus section of the Berlin International Film Festival, and immediately afterwards critics compared it to Close (2022), whereas I would place this film alongside Hjartasteinn (2016) and Noordzee, Texas (2011).
It is an event of the kind to go down in cinematic history, with the incredibly good performances of Lou Goossens and Marius De Saeger, who have no prior cinematic experience.
With Ruben De Gheselle's compositions accompanying Pieter Van Campe's clever use of the camera, "Junge Herzen" was screened in September 2024 as part of the Queer Film Festival in Germany, but its general worldwide release will be in the first weeks of 2025.
