Two-man club Keplerfilm, which saw the light in 2016, has wasted no time inshowing off their calling card: their first three feature films stood out forbringing major, current themes to the fore in an accessible way. The trophycabinet now includes a Golden Calf, a Golden Rose and a director’s prize fromthe prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Derk-Jan Warrink (37) and Koji Nelissen (41) met each other at the FilmAcademy. They both made their flying hours at established production housesbefore they dared to stand on their own two feet: Warrink at Lemming Film,Nelissen at Millstreet and Johan Nijenhuis. The name Keplerfilm came up withthe two during a drunken night in the pub. “The astronomer Johannes Keplermapped all new stars in the seventeenth century. We try to do that too, onlyon a smaller scale,” explains Warrink.
Their first feature film, the magical realist Bulado , opened theNetherlands Film Festival in 2020, won the Golden Calf for best film andbecame an Oscar entry. For their spiritual coming-of-age drama set in Curaçao,director Eché Janga and co-writer Esther Duysker were loosely inspired by thetraditional stories of enslaved people who fled the salt mines.
The film was hailed as a successful exponent of a new, diverse generation ofmakers. “We found it bizarre that no film had yet been spoken in Papiamento,which is about the folklore and rituals on the island,” says Warrink. “Thosestories are also part of Dutch culture and deserve to be told.”
Blank card
The science fiction youth film received the same enthusiastic reception in2021 Captain Nova , about a girl who travels back in time to save the worldfrom an environmental disaster. The film won all major prizes at the Cinekidfestival, but was not given a chance in the cinemas; the day after thepremiere in early December, all cinemas closed due to the last major lockdown.Director Maurice Trouwborst and co-screenwriter Lotte Tabbers were also givencarte blanche for this ambitious project. “If there is one subject thatconcerns young people, it is climate change and its consequences,” Warrinkexplains. “But you shouldn’t make it boring or pedantic. We wanted to wrap themessage in an exciting story.”
The pain of minimal cinema numbers was eased by a sale to Netflix, with which_Captain Nova_ reached a potential audience of millions. Also third featurefilm Pink Moon about a father who wants to take his own life, was praisedfor its contemporary, philosophical theme and avoidance of flat melodrama.
Family movie Hotel Sinestra , which hits theaters this week, is Keplerfilm’smost conventional production yet. The comedy (cost: 3.5 million euros) isabout a girl (Bobbie Mulder) who wishes her parents away in a hotel in thesnow and gets her way. It is the first major audience film of _Mudguard_director Michiel ten Horn.
Pancake fight
“It can work out very well if you put an outspoken, more artistic directorwith a clear signature on a larger, more accessible project,” thinks Warrink.“You see that happening more and more in America now, at superhero studioMarvel, for example.”
The disappearance of the parents Hotel Sinestra leads to scenes thatespecially appeal to young viewers: an exuberant race with cleaning trolleysthrough the empty corridors, an old-fashioned pancake fight under a ricketyChristmas tree. But in the end, the absence of parents also has its drawbacks,because who repairs the electricity when it goes out or provides food when thepantry becomes empty?
There is a serious contemporary message under the infectious nonsense. “Manychildren are mainly prepared to grow older quickly,” explains Warrink. „Hotel Sinestra is a plea to take the time to be a child: dare to take risks,dare to play, dare to discover.”
Read also: which children’s films are there to see all at Christmas in thecinema?
Family movie
Hotel Sinestra Director: Michiel ten Horn. With: Bobbie Mulder, EliseSchaap, Jeroen Spitzenberger. Length: 85 minutes.
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Surcharge affair: the movie
Producer Keplerfilm and director Stijn Bouma are working on a feature filmabout the Supplementary Affair. Bouma previously made the acclaimed NPOdocumentary Only against the state in which five duped parents tell theirstory.
The director is now developing the film Oostvaarders , about a woman whocompletely loses her grip on her life due to the debts she built up as avictim. Her opponent is a social detective who goes to great lengths to provethe alleged fraud of benefit parents.
Bouma is writing the script together with screenwriter Roelof Jan Minneboo.Filming should start in mid-2023.
In addition to a feature film, two series about the Supplementary Affair arealso being prepared. Screenwriter Frank Ketelaar is developing a four-partdrama series. Videoland a series that sheds light on the affair through theeyes of a lawyer who assists a group of parents.