Two Boys, One Farm and a Friendship That Comes to Blows | The Lap | Coming-of-Age Short Film

Autumn 1913. The cold comes over the land and the harvest season is about to end. For the first time a young alienated farmhand is conflicted about his inevitable approaching departure. 🔔 Love indie films? SUBSCRIBE to Directors Notes for more trailblazing shorts:    / directorsnotes   🎥 Want to see your film here? Submit your work to Directors Notes: https://directorsnotes.com/submit/ The Lap (Der Schoß) by Robert Piel   / robert_piel   "It was clear to me from the beginning that I wanted to tell a coming-of-age story. For me, growing up is connected to a real tumult of feelings. Characters who are going through that transition into adulthood have a very vulnerable side, which they often try to hide. And quite often, that tension eventually results in an emotional outburst. As I developed the characters, I wanted to give both of them a certain duality. Neither should be a clear hero or antagonist. They are both victims of their circumstances, while at the same time struggling with an internal transformation. Once I understood who these characters were, the ending felt like a natural consequence of that development rather than a direction I had imposed on the story from the outside…" 🎙️ Dive deeper into the making of The Lap with our exclusive interview with writer/director Robert Piel https://directorsnotes.com/2026/10/19... 👉 Follow Us for More Short Film Greatness: Newsletter: https://directorsnotes.beehiiv.com/su... Instagram:   / directorsnotes   Podcast: https://pod.link/192507317 // Credits // CAST MAX Florian Geißelmann BENNI Mitja Over ONA Airida Gintautaite CREW WRITER, DIRECTOR Robert Piel PRODUCTION COMPANY Fachhochschule Dortmund CO-PRODUCTION Robert Piel DOP Kaspar Hornikel PRODUCTION DESIGNER & COSTUME DESIGN Inga Aleknaviciute-Piel LINE PRODUCER Paul Kiesel PRODUCTION MANAGER Edita Martina EDITOR Jannis Greff SOUND DESIGN & MUSIC Ole Brandt 1.AC Samuel Emmer 2.AC Max Rabus GAFFER Marco Binger SPARK Giuliano Benintende GRIP Matthias Neumeister PD ASSISTANT Jannis Greff SOUND Vilte Zilinskaite, Mykolas Beisys CATERING Stasio Balseviciaus Homestead DIALOGUE EDITOR & SOUND MIXER Henry Uhl COLORIST Lutz Forster VFX Spitshine VFX FOLEY Foley Farmers FOLEY ARTIST Franziska Treutler FOLEY MIXER Matt Radcliffe VOICE ACTORS Roland Ströder, Kristina Van Eyck ADR RECORDISTS Fabian Scharpf, Evan Golde SUBTITLES No Limits Media, J. Ball and A. Kellner PROPS & COSTUMES Adlershofer Fundus, RIR Prop House SUPPORTED BY David Nuss, Sarah Martin-Nuss, Reinhard Piel, Ursula Schott-Piel, Frank Hornikel SUPERVISION LECTURERS Prof. Sandra Hacker, Prof. Oliver Schwabe ABOUT DIRECTORS NOTES Since 2006 Directors Notes has curated the world's best independent films alongside exclusive daily deep dive interviews which provide behind the scenes insights into the inspirations and production stories of the most talented filmmakers on the planet. #drama #shortfilm #comingofage