From 0 - 100 years in French

From 0 - 100 years in 3 minutes in Spanish. (Desde 0-100 anos)

I went to Barcelona to make a Spanish version of my '0-100 years' series.

My new short film: from 0-100 years in New York City. Five years after I finished my short 'From 0-100 years in 150 seconds' in Amsterdam, I made an English version by popular demand. In celebration of the diversity of the American people. Enjoy!

The Passing Years (Verloop van Jaren) selected for IDFA and aired on national TV

Premiere at the IDFA

From the fall of 2015 into the fall of 2016 I worked on a documentary on poet/writer Remco Campert. The film was selected for the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and has been aired on national television. 

Remco Campert with his favorite animal

My company Imagine Video co-produced it and I did a lot of the 'intimate' camerawork for it. The film was received with great praise by both the press and the public. 

You can see the documentary online by clicking here: The Passing Years.

My doc 'I am Innocent' on national television,wednesday October 29

It's been almost 6 years since my co-director Mark Limburg and I started filming for the documentary 'I am Innocent' about a young Nigerian man who started boxing to realize drinking water for his village. Now finally the film is being broadcast tomorrow on NPO2 at 11 PM. It 's been a long time coming. Enough talk about the film- hope you get a chance to see it.

Check out the trailer NPO Doc made about our film.

Our film is the kick off for a whole week of boxing documentaries, including a film about my (childhood) hero Muhammed Ali.

Tourists - a short film about people & hats

In the fall of 2012 I started noticing a great many people, tourists, wearing the same type of hats with  'Amsterdam'  stitched on them. I thought it was such a curious phenomenon and started to 'collect' all these people wearing these hats, asking them where they are from. I thought they would be from all over the world -and they are- but It turned out that by far most of them are from Italy!

So this is the result 6 months later: a collection of people from all walks of life and from all over the world: United under One Hat…

'100' (from 0 to 100 years in 150 seconds)

In October 2011 I started documenting people in the city of Amsterdam, approaching them in the street and asking them to say their age in front of the camera. My aim was to 'collect' a group of 100 people, from age 0 to 100. At first my collection grew fast but slowed down when it got down to the very young and very old. The young because of sensivity around filming or photographing children and the very old because they don't get out of the house much. I found my very old 'models' in care homes and it was a privilege to document these -often vulnerable- people for this project. I had particular problems finding a 99 year-old. (Apparently 100 year-olds enjoy notoriety, but a 99 year-old is a rare species...) And when I finally did find one, she refused to state her age. She simply denied being 99 years old! But finally, some 4 months after I recorded my first 'age', I was able to capture the 'missing link' and conclude this project. Enjoy.

Sold my doc shot on GH2

Exciting news for the author of this blog: the documentary I'm shooting and co-directing (the other director is my mother) on poet/pop-journalist/feminist Elly de Waard is commissioned by Dutch Public Broadcasting for their renowned documentary series Uur van de Wolf. (The Hour of the Wolf) I'm sure this is the first time a filmmaker named 'Wolf' is making something for Het Uur van de Wolf. Feels like coming home ;-)
Mother and son Wolf have joined film-forces before in 2008, when they collaborated on a portrait of Dutch artist Willem van Malsen. That film was selected for the Netherlands Film Festival and was aired by public broadcaster AVRO.
The documentary on poet de Waard will be shot on a Panasonic GH2 with antique Canon FD lenses. The film is planned to be aired in December of this year, along with the publication of a new book of poetry by de Waard that includes photographs by photographer Frederique Masselink van Rijn (who happens to be my niece. yes, it's all in the family...).
Good times for the filmer behind Filmersblog but less time for the blog... I'm going to try to post more than I've done the past few months and keep you up to date on several exciting new projects and the gear that I use and plan to use. (would love to get my hands on some of that Black Magic...)

Pitfalls of perfection

I did a shoot with a philospher a few months ago and the discussion came upon technical perfection. He mentioned that Americans are often obsessed with technical perfection. He himself was less concerned about technical perfection: getting the message across was more important to him.
His words got me thinking: was I obsessed with technical perfection? Looking at my work, I would not draw that conclusion ;-) I have a lot to learn. I am far from perfect and so is my work. But I do strive for a certain aesthetic ideal. What that is, I cannot define and it is certainly different for every project. But there are certain qualities I like. To name a cliché, I like (as many of us) most of Philip Bloom's aesthetic approach to shooting video. He makes 'everyday things' look extraordinary. His work is visually subtle, warm, never over the top. And most importantly, it is 'real'. In the sense that it is not contrived. It stems from genuine curiosity. But I'm digressing. Good form = content, is perhaps what I'm trying to say.
I saw a film at IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) and it won the Public and Special Jury Award. It's called '5 broken camera's'. (great title) and tells the story of a Palestinian filming his life, his family, his village and the suffering they experience. The camera work is not pretty. It is point and shoot footage. But this Palestinian man was not interested in making aesthetically pleasing pictures while filming the bloody history of his village & people.
I was moved to tears by this film.

It is is good to strive for technical perfection. But beware of preoccupation with looks and styles. Pleasing aesthetics can provide a momentary rush but a true story will leave a lasting impression.

Top Docs

LIVE FROM IDFA: 8 HOURS OF NON-STOP MOVIES!

Live from the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam(IDFA): I am spending the entire day in a theatre watching one doc after the other. I've seen 7 documentaries (5 today) during this edition of IDFA and these films cut straight into your soul.
Whenever I see a well made doc, I wonder why anyone would ever go out and make fiction..?! Nothing beats a good doc as far as originality and drama is concerned. Fantasy is never more outrageous, scarier or funnier than reality.

Two of the top docs I recommend:  'To be Heard' by Edwin Martinez and 'Bobby Fischer against the World' by Liz Garbus:

Best Documentaries in the World

The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has opened its doors to the general public today. This is the ultimate documentary festival in the world and it runs until november 27. For the last couple of years I have immersed myself in great films during IDFA, watching one film after the other, eating fast food inbetween, drinking a few beers and on to the next movie... This year I bought a ticket for Best of IDFA, which shows on the last day of the festival from 10 am till 6 pm: six of the most highly rated films by the public. If you can't make it to the festival, some of the best films from the last years (called 'IDFA Delicatessen') can be seen online. My aim is to have my own documentary, I am Innocent, ready for IDFA 2012! Here's the first trailer we made:

Mandatory viewing: Inside Job

See how we, the people, are being screwed. Shocking, infuriating, humiliating.

I've Sold my Soul without Selling my Film...

...so now it's time to Sell my Film without Selling my Soul. At least that's what the authors of this book promise with the book of the same title. The book is free up untill October 1 and you can get different versions: for iPad, iPhone, pdf, Kindle, Sony E-Reader, you name it. Enhanced with video interviews with filmmakers. Only the paperback will cost money.
This is a great initative and promises to be of great help in raising money for postproduction for the documentary I'm working on.
I've been trying to download a copy for my iPad but I can't because it's only offered in the US iTunes Store, not in the Dutch one..??!! What the..? I am a World Citizen, not a prisoner of Holland?! Come on, Apple, figure it out. You're getting worse than Mickeysoft! Luckily I was able to download a pdf from the film collaborative's website but I want to watch those interviews as well!@! Anyway, get your copy while it's free and make sure to spread the word.

Power to the people

CineCrowd is the first Dutch crowdfunding platform and my partner and I have talked to them about our documentary 'I am Innocent'. CineCrowd saw the trailer for our film and believed that it's ashame that this project is not finished due to lack of funding. CineCrowd wants to invest its efforts and network to enable the realization of this feature documentary.
After we met with CineCrowd it was decided to start a campaign to raise funds for our film as soon as possible.

7UP in the USSR

I'd like to mention a documentary series that ranks high in top documentaries of all times: the 7-up series. The idea is simple: follow a group of children from the age of 7 and revisit them every 7 years. Take children from various social backgrounds and from different parts of the country and ask them about their dreams, their fears, their passions, struggles and daily lives.
What you get is a extremely personal and confronting portrait of a people and a nation. With every 7 years added to the series, the project becomes more interesting because all the (unfulfilled) dreams and (unexpected) developments have a history we know of. Once we meet people as children, you understand and sympathize with them as grownups.

A documentary masterpiece

I saw the incredible documentary 'Stand van de Sterren' (Position of the Stars) the other night. It is the last part of a trilogy on three generations of Indonesians: an old woman, her middle aged son and a granddaughter. The maker, Leonard Retel Helmrich, is a completely original and tenacious filmer who has developed a unique way of operating and using a camera. His films have a 'fly on the wall' feel but now 'the fly has left the wall' and circles and flies with & around his subjects. His aim is to shoot a scene with as few interruptions as possible; as one long, smooth shot.
He does this with amazing agility and I believe he has developed special gear to fly high or low and get incredible perspective. Sometimes he approaches the face of his protagonists within inches and, amazingly, they don't even flinch an eye. It's like the filmer and his camera are not there.
Not only his style, but the content of this trilogy is baffling as well: at once extremely personal and dramatic, showing his characters vulnerable, flawed and at all times captivating and intimate against the backdrop of social turmoil and changing times, religious differences and inequality.
This is a film that every film and documentary maker should see, as an example how style and content come together to form a masterpiece.

A boxer who doesn't like to fight

A new trailer for a doc I've been working on for 2 years with co-director Mark Limburg, a classical from rags to riches story about a man who's taken many beatings but refuses to go down.

As a boy growing up in a small village in Nigeria, Innocent Anyanwu realized that the cycle of poverty and illiteracy had to be broken. He took the fate of his village on his shoulders and started on an a journey that forced him to overcome many challenges. Three continents later he is faced by the greatest challenge of them all: to become a world boxing champion and earn enough money to realize his dream.

Shot on two EX1's (one was upgraded to an EX1R). Now in postproduction. (looking for funding & partners)

I am Innocent - 4 minute trailer from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

Great film, no money

I am Innocent

In december 2008 my filmpartner and I decided to make a film on a Nigerian young man who took on the fate of his village on his shoulders. He left his hometown, his brothers, sisters and ailing father to embark on a journey of which the outcome was uncertain. His goal: money for a pump, drinking water for the people his village. His travel budget: 5 dollars.
This very naieve yet very determined boy learned the ways of the world quickly: he got sick, exploited, incarcerated and abused. After traveling three continents, he found a new home in Holland. Together with a former boxer turned lawyer his luck started to turn and a remarkable story of succes unfolded. The young Nigerian by the name of Innocent boxed his way to money and recognition. But would he remain focussed in his quest for the world boxing title or would the very same fame he pursued all these years be the cause of his downfall?

Crowdfunding?

Just came across a stunning piece of photo/video journalism. A trailer, a pitch, a teaser or whatever you want to call it, for a 'crowdfunding' project; a term that has reached my eyes for the first time today. People on the internet decide whether or not they find your project interesting enough to donate money to, starting at US $10,-.


Sin & Salvation in Baptist Town-by Matt Eich-Emphas.is from Emphas.is on Vimeo.

McDictate Speech: godsend for documentary makers

A few years ago I finished my first feature documentary which I directed and for which I did the camerawork. My 70-year old mother did the research and together we edited the film. (along with a very capable film and documentary editor) We co-produced this no-budget doc and although it was selected for the Dutch Film Festival and aired on a major Public Broadcaster, we did not even break even. But I'm not complaining- the film is here and here to stay.
Since there was no money, we did everything ourselves: preproduction, production and in postproduction we were thankfully assisted by aforementioned editor.