Sisters Bente (7) and Linde (10) lost their parents in a tragic car accident and now live with their grandparents in the close-knit village of Koningshooikt. The ritual is a surprise for the sisters. They embark on a journey aboard a beautiful sailboat called Salamander. The ceremony, known as Sun Day Child (Zon Dag Kind), was created by renowned grief curator Barbara Raes and her initiative Beyond the Spoken, which designs rituals for children coping with loss.

Filmmaker Maartje Nevejan, herself in mourning for the love of her life, joins the voyage with her camera — singing the sun up alongside the children. In the fragile beauty of that moment, something shifts: grief begins to breathe.

What the children do not know is that their entire village has risen at 3 a.m. to wait for them on the quay. Their return becomes a communal act — transforming the intimate ritual into a full rite of passage, a hero’s journey. The girls leave, transform, and come home — into the arms of those who carry them.

Short film (24 minutes)