Mirte is a cleaner in the reception centre for asylum seekers at the airport. She tries to forget her past through routine. When the charismatic West African Luc is brought in, Mirte seems to get a grip on her life aga...展开in. A film about loss, fleeing and love from an unexpected corner.
Mirte is a cleaner in the reception centre for asylum seekers near Schiphol Airport. Those entering the Netherlands as refugees stay ten days at most in this bunk-bedded vestibule to the promised land - a place and period that seems to stand outside of ordinary life.
This no-man’s-land suits Mirte. She is a woman damaged by life, snappy and defensive, who seeks a hold in the routine of the mop, even keeping her little boy at a distance. But when the West African Luc turns up, she has to lower her shield. Luc scratches her open emotionally. A cautious love blossoms, after which the farewell is even more painful.
The New World describes these grand emotions with expressive detail. The dialogue is sparse, the grey setting illustrative of a life on the fringe of society. The beautifully-maintained surly nature displayed by Bianca Krijgsman as Mirte ensures that this love-tragedy-in-ten-days does not get too sweet.