From Dust.

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🪐 You are entering a fictional zone: reality has been suspended.

A girl named Joy is looking for love and connection. When she loses control during a date, the innocent looking Joy seems to be more than meets the eye…

"JOY" by Steve Oen

Watch Steve’s other film on DUST, "Sucker": https://youtu.be/XE8bFZxvgOs

Connect with the Filmmakers:
https://www.instagram.com/steve.oen/
https://www.facebook.com/joyshortmovie
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10415212/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

More About "JOY":
In a near-future world where loneliness has become epidemic, an elderly woman named Sofia tries to reconnect with life by hijacking the body of a young android named Joy. From a remote sea container, she controls Joy on a date with a charming and sensitive man named Frits. But what starts as a dream encounter quickly spirals out of control when the emotional illusion begins to crack.

As the facade falters, both Sofia and Joy are confronted with the painful limits of artificial connection. Joy is a bittersweet, darkly comic exploration of love, loneliness, and the desire to feel truly alive—even if that feeling is manufactured.

Director’s Statement:
Joy is a story about loneliness in a digital age about the need to feel something real, even if it’s artificial. Through Sofia’s desperate attempt to connect using a hijacked android body, we explore where empathy ends and illusion begins. Awkward, tender, and a little unsettling this film asks: if it feels real, does it matter that it’s not?

"JOY" Credits:
Director: Steve Oen
D.O.P.: David Vaessen
Writer: Marc Pötgens
First A.D.: Eussein Oukoums
Assistant Director: Amy Galatá
Audio Engineer: Stefan de Groen
Gaffer: Raoul Stuart
Best Boy: Daan Kreike
Camera Assistant: Tom van Hattum
Editors: Gerben Weseman & Ben van Maanen
Production Team: Edwin Hijman, Barend van Balen, Susan Wolthuis, Amy Pelsma, Larissa Willemsen
& Rowin de Jong
Art Department: Minoek Egberink, Alexandra Mitsiou & Leonie van der Heijden
Colorist: Pepijn Klijs
Visual FX and Motion Graphics: Tjako de Weerd
Composer: Guido Heeneman
Audio Engineer: Roy van der Heijden
Mix & Sound Design: Rogier Habraken & Bob Peters
Photographer: Daniel Lewensztain
Photographer’s assistant: Julia Marco
Make up Artists: Joanna Michalków & Marlies Verbeek

Cast –
JOY: Elodie Hooftman
Sophia: Perla Thissen
Frits: Shane Redondo
Bas: Martin Vis
Waiter: Boudewijn Scholten

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