Netherlands Production Platform - Nederlands Film Festival

More documents

Recommendations

Info

A Kronstadt Tale Van Lieshout Filmproducties Netherlands Producer/Director Ben van Lieshout Producer Bea de Visser Producer Hans Eijses 34 • NPP 2008 Synopsis Nadia (17) lives by herself in Kronstadt on the naval island of Kotlin, off the coast near St Petersburg. Her mother is terminally ill in hospital. Nadia works for a sail-maker, alongside a number of older women. Sergei (42), who lives in the same apartment building, imposes himself on Nadia but she does not want him. Nadia has a boyfriend: Sasha (20), who is in the navy. Nadia likes to look at him when he is working or playing sports, sometimes even through binoculars. On one occasion as she gazes longingly at him, she hears that he is to be transferred to Vladivostok. Nadia wants to enjoy their final hours together for as long as possible. She silently makes a wish: ‘I wish for us to be happy, and that our happiness will last a long time’. They pick up a stray dog and visit a friend of Sasha’s, Pyotr, who is a cinema projectionist. As if mesmerised, Nadia stares from the projection room at an old Russian film, Long Happy Life (Gennadi Shpalikov, 1966). She asks Pyotr what the film is about and he mumbles: ‘Something that used to happen - people looking for happiness.’ Nadia watches the protagonists walk through a deserted, misty wood. They seem happy, full of anticipation, but simultaneously overcome by a sense of melancholy. Happiness is evidently not allowed to last for long. Nadia and Sasha wander on through an almost imaginary landscape in the strange light of one of those famous white nights, where it simply refuses to get dark. They will make love once more under cloudless skies from which the sun has gone. Then comes the parting. Nadia promises to take good care of Sasjenka, the stray dog she has named after Sasha. And Sasha promises to return when the first snow falls. Once again, a yearning gaze through binoculars - but this time it is not Nadia’s gaze but Sergei’s. He keeps pursuing Nadia, who has heard nothing from her boyfriend for months, in spite of the long letters she writes to him. Nadia continues to wait and yearn, although she has her weak moments. Her life has not become any easier, certainly not after her mother dies. She visits the grave as faithfully as she once did the hospital. Nadia discovers she is pregnant. The women at work are cynical about Sasha’s return, but Nadia keeps her cool. One day, the dog disappears. With Pyotr, Nadia searches for him, desperately but to no avail. Sergei tells her where the dog is; Nadia discovers him dead. She is inconsolable. The first snow falls. Still no Sasha, yet Nadia indignantly rejects a proposal of marriage from Pyotr. Nadia sits by her mother’s snow-covered grave. She sees a figure coming closer through the binoculars: Sasha. An image of unshakeable happiness. But, taking us back to a past that is lost forever, a song reminds us that great loss may also lie behind every happiness. Director’s statement After my award-winning feature De verstekeling (The Stowaway, 1997) and the documentary Petersburg Places and Paintings (2004), this new feature will be the third project in which Russia’s past and today’s reality form a remarkable background for a lyrical, poetic and occasionally grim story about a 17-year-old girl. I would like to make this film with local actors, recruited from the Marine Theatre Company based in Kronstadt, site of the famous Kronstadt uprising on the island of Kotlin near St Petersburg, during Russia’s revolutionary period. The whole film will be shot on this relatively small island, which was a no-go area until the mid 1990s. My feature films are based in reality or in actual situations and my documentary work is often highly stylised (The Zone, 1999; Night at the Mall, 2001). The outcome has always been a merging of fictional and documentary elements. This film will use the specific architecture and often dramatic atmosphere of Kronstadt and its naval elements. It will be an auteur and character-driven film with strong images and natural acting. For me, it’s a film about trust and hope personified in a strong, magnetic character, shot in the enchanting summer of the white nights and the mesmeric wintertime.
Director Ben van Lieshout Producer Ben van Lieshout, Bea de Visser, Hans Eijses Writer Céline Linssen Based on an original story Language Russian Genre Drama Format HD transfer/35mm Running time 90 mins Despite personal setbacks, a young girl continues to wish for and believe in the possibility of a long and happy life. Target audience 15 and up; European arthouse; international festivals; TV in Europe, especially Eastern Europe and Russia Budget € 1,200,000 Cast tbc Director Ben van Lieshout Ben van Lieshout (The Netherlands) is an independent and award winning director, screenwriter and producer. He directed short films, documentaries and feature films. 1983 Het licht van Cadiz/The Light of Cadiz 1988 De wal/The Shore 1989 Schutting/Fence 1991 Passagiers/Passengers 1995 Butterfly 1997 De verstekeling/The Stowaway 1999 De zone/The Zone 2001 Winkelhart/Night at the Mall 2002 Reis naar het paradijs/Trip to Paradise 2003 Lapje grond/Allotment Week 19 – Observations from Rotterdam 2004 Petersburg Places and Paintings 2006 Locatie Tussenland 2007 De muze/The Muse Writer Céline Linssen Céline Linssen has collaborated on a number of theatre shows; has published many articles on film; and has edited several magazines and catalogues. Her novel, Duet, was published in 2007. Film and theatre work: 1999 De nacht van de vier hoeden De laatste liefde van Mata Hari 2004 Toen ’t licht verdween 2006 Zomerdag Koeraaj, Koeraaj 2008 Shocking Blue Boven is het stil Current status Treatment available. The script is in finaldraft stage. The project was developed with financial support from the Dutch Film Fund (project and script development). We will apply to various Dutch funds and broadcasters, and hope to raise about 70% of the budget, which means that from co-production and additional funding we plan to raise the remaining 30% (€350,000) Total budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .€1,200,000 Financing in place . . . . . . . . . . . . .€45,000 Financial Plan: Dutch Film Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . .€375,000 Broadcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .€90,000 Co-Production Fund . . . . . . . . . .€180,000 Dutch Cultural Broadcast Fund . .€150,000 City of Utrecht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .€7,500 Rotterdam Film Fund . . . . . . . . . .€50,000 Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . .€852,500 Co-producers & additional finance €347,500 Partners attached: Anotherfilm/Bea de Visser, Hans Eijses. Aims at the NPP We are looking for co-producing partners, particularly in Germany, Scandinavia, Russia or France. We are also seeking an international sales agent and international distribution. Preferably all of the above will love auteur-driven and character-driven productions with a visual, cinematographic style that captures audiences and gives way to imagination and hope. Contact Ben van Lieshout Van Lieshout Filmproducties Kerkstraat 8 3431 CR Nieuwegein Netherlands Tel: (31) 30 601 3040 ben.vanlieshout@wanadoo.nl Bea de Visser & Hans Eijses AnotherFilm Lloydstraat 15-e 3024 EA Rotterdam The Netherlands T. +31 10 2449874 M. +31 6 48450103 mail@anotherfilm.org www.anotherfilm.org NPP 2008 • 35
Page 1: Netherlands Production Platform NPP
Page 4 and 5: The Netherlands Production Platform
Page 6 and 7: The Bear (Ursul) Libra Film Romania
Page 8 and 9: Corps diplomatique Dschoint Ventsch
Page 10 and 11: The Fields Savage Film Belgium Writ
Page 12 and 13: Invasion Twenty Twenty Vision Filmp
Page 14 and 15: Istanbul Új Budapest Filmstúdió
Page 16 and 17: Lonely Woman Artémis Productions B
Page 18 and 19: Our Grand Despair (Bizim büyük ca
Page 20 and 21: Playoff Topia Communications Israel
Page 22 and 23: The Runway Fastnet Films Ireland Wr
Page 24 and 25: Seeing Chris Newgrange Pictures Ire
Page 26 and 27: Shanghai- Belleville Clandestine &
Page 28 and 29: The Snow Queen (Lumekuninganna) F-S
Page 30 and 31: Svinalängorna (The Pigsties) Hepp
Page 32 and 33: Um-Hussein (Mother Hussein) Human F
Page 34 and 35: 1-900 (06) Column Film/Ironworks Ne
Page 38 and 39: Lourdes Holland Harbour Productions
Page 40 and 41: Olga - Tomorrow I’ll Dance (Olga
Page 42 and 43: Shocking Blue Waterland Film Nether
Page 44 and 45: Sonny Boy Shooting Star Filmcompany
Page 46: Index English titles, original titl

Netherlands Production Platform - Nederlands Film Festival

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?