Finals

The main storyline of this first series 'Finals' was built around 16 high school students in their final year in school. The basic concept was simple: in order to make a documentary and to be accepted at the Dutch Film & Television Academy, one of the students asked permission to record everything that happened in his class during his last year in school. Permission was granted, so an eye-opening documentary was shot and broadcast in 10 episodes. Although the main storyline of “Finals” is written, the scenes are improvised by the actors. They use their own words and work freely with the emotions that they feel while playing. This unique method of acting has given “Finals” its natural look and feel. In its nature, you can compare “Finals” to an extended role-play. While shooting the series, the actors use the name of their characters, they live their lives on the set. They have no script, they don’t even know what the main storyline is about. They are confronted with situations during the improvisations and receive only brief individual instructions from the directors just before the scene is shot. The actors experience the storyline as it unfolds itself, while shooting it. For them it is a surprising and intriguing as daily life can be. They merely respond to the given situations. Their emotions are real. Their fears are real, their anger, everything… Knowing this, it is not amazing that our viewers still experience “Finals” as reality.