The Boy Who Loves the World
What if you could peek at the world before you were born? Would you be ready for the adventure?
Twelve-year-old Adem comes from another dimension where children wait to enter the real world. When he is given a brief chance to experience life, he sets out to bring together two strangers whose lives have just crossed: Zdenka, a determined police detective, and Vaclav, a rebellious activist who couldn't be more different from her. Adem soon discovers that these two could become his future parents, but bringing them together won't be easy.
His unexpected journey becomes a funny, moving adventure about finding connection, discovering what makes a family, and learning that even an imperfect world is still worth living in.
Producers' note
Over the past two years, together with screenwriter Mieke de Jong and director Steven Wouterlood, we have fully immersed ourselves in the wonderful world of Adem (Dutch for ‘Breath'), the main character from The Boy Who Loves the World. When Steven had us read the book of the same name by Tjibbe Veldkamp, we were immediately convinced that this story was a perfect fit for Steven and that this was the story for his new feature film after our successful collaboration on My Extraordinary Summer with Tess. It was a long-cherished wish to work with Mieke de Jong, and when she immediately embraced this book as well, the dream team was complete.
It has been mentioned numerous times in book reviews and jury reports: this story is crying out to be filmed. The book has received multiple awards. It was number one as children's book of the year 2024. We are convinced that this can become a beautiful, captivating family film full of adventure, which lends itself excellently to a Christmas release. A film for a broad audience that will captivate both children and adults and also has international potential.
At the moment, there is a strong first version of the script and we have conducted extensive development work that will inform the next version, which will be available in December. Director Steven Wouterlood participated in Cinekid's Directors Lab, which provided invaluable creative insights that have sharpened our vision for the film. The project is also part of the EAVE Producers Workshop 2026, in which producer Maaike Neve participates.
We hope you are interested in this film and would love for you to read our script, as we are eager to further develop and bring to life the world and story of Adem.
Director's note
During the development, we have worked thoroughly on the adaptation of The Boy Who Loves the World. And every day my desire to make this film only grows stronger, just as Adem yearns to live. I believe that the original story – which I fell in love with – remains strong in our film version and is only becoming richer and more beautiful. I am convinced this will be a captivating, moving and exciting film for younger and older audiences.
Adem gets to know life during his search for his possible father and mother. We are very close to him and discover the world along with him through his disarming perspective. You immediately take this protagonist to heart. He experiences everything for the first time: friendship, love, cold, warmth, fear. He sees a harsh society with a lot of mess and discontent but discovers among it the beauty of the little things.
This film feels like such a logical successor to my earlier work in so many ways. It is a mix of Remi, Nobody’s Boy (the TV series I made earlier with Mieke) and My Extraordinary Summer with Tess, my last feature film, also produced by BIND. Remi, Nobody’s Boy is also about a resilient, wandering child who has to manage on his own, searching for his family. And in My Extraordinary Summer with Tess, protagonist Sam does ‘solitude training’ out of fear of death and discovers the value of life. With The Boy Who Loves the World we go one step further. Imagine, you weren’t born yet, but you could already look around the world. Would you be happy with what you saw? Would you want to be born? I find it an extremely fascinating question that is palpable between the lines in this story.
Biography
Steven Wouterlood is a Dutch director specialized in movies, tv-series and tv-programs for children. His short Anything Goes (2014) won an International
Emmy Award, followed by King’s Day (2015), which won a TIFF Award. His feature film My Extraordinary Summer with Tess (2019) premiered at the Berlinale, received a range of awards and had a cinema release in twelve countries. Steven co-directed three tv-series; Remi, Nobody’s Boy in 2016, Escape from Albatros in 2024 and Saïd & Anna in 2025.
Screenwriter's note
A large bridge connects the poor part with the rich part of the city. It's snowing hard, visibility is poor. Vaclav comes running from one side, Zdenka from the other. In the middle of the bridge they collide. And there, at that moment, a possible child is born.
The Boy Who Loves the World is the story of Adem, a boy who comes into the world as a possible child at the first exchange of glances between his parents. But to be truly born, Adem must bring these two completely different people together and make them fall in love, so they can create him.
Eagerly and full of wonder, Adem steps into the world. He learns about friendship and danger. He discovers that poor people do things they would never do if they were rich. And he learns that love can bridge differences.
I'm a fan of Tjibbe Veldkamp's book. I can hardly think of a comparable story that is so original and surprising. Tjibbe introduces (literally) transparent characters, a kind of ghost through which we enter an imagined reality. But the fantastic, possible child gets a mission that he must fulfil as an ordinary boy. The ghosts fade into the background and make way for earthly matters like hunger and lack of money. The story shows the world through the eyes of a newcomer who steps into life without prejudice. Adem encounters wealth, poverty, freedom and love in a story that is simultaneously adventurous and philosophical.
I work on this script with great pleasure, thanks in no small part to Steven, who has been reading and thinking along from the beginning. From our earlier collaboration on Remi, Nobody’s Boy, I already knew, of course, that he's a precise director who knows well what he wants. It's very nice working together. I have also benefited greatly from the rest of the team: script coach Esther and producers Maaike and Joram, who are very involved and are good conversation partners. And from Tjibbe, who has contributed his thoughts admirably while at the same time giving me freedom in the final choices for the script.
Biography
Maaike Neve is producer at BIND, with a focus on children's and family films. She has worked on, among others, the internationally acclaimed My Extraordinary Summer with Tess, Ma Mère et Moi, and I Accidentally Wrote A Book. She has participated in various talent programs such as LIM, Rotterdam Lab, ACE training days. She is a Berlinale Talents alumni and she is part of EAVE producers workshop 2026. Maaike wants to one day make a cinematic ode to her great passion for cooking and food.
Profile
BIND’s objective is to tell striking, unique stories that move and inspire, that open eyes and take root. BIND makes genuine, provocative feature films and documentaries about real people and the quest for their identity.