Netherlands Production Platform - Nederlands Film Festival

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Sonny Boy Shooting Star Filmcompany Netherlands Writer/director Maria Peters Producer Hans Pos 42 • NPP 2008 Synopsis Sonny Boy is the true love story of two ordinary people: Dutch mother of four Rika; and the much younger Waldemar from Surinam. Their love is able to survive all the prejudices and obstacles of the world around them, but can’t survive the destructive power of war. The true gripping story of Sonny Boy starts in the year 1911. Rika, a Dutch girl, marries William; it is a marriage that is doomed to fail. Rika finally escapes with her children and, just to make a living and with the help of her brother Marcel, starts a pension in The Hague. Meanwhile, in Surinam, the young and dreamy Waldemar, much younger than Rika, is an excellent swimmer. His father runs off with a new wife and his lonely mother calls Waldemar ‘the ocean swimmer’, which means that he’s supposed to go to Holland to study. On the day that Rika’s children move in with her at the new pension, they meet a man who’s looking for a room. He’s friendly, young and sympathetic. However… he’s black. It’s Waldemar. All his Surinam qualifications were rejected and he has had to start from the bottom up, so it’s not surprising that he responds to Rika’s warmth. The feeling is mutual. A fragile, romantic relationship develops, blessed by a baby boy, whom they call ‘Sonny Boy’ after a song in a film they both saw. They have a hard time keeping everything together but, when they open a new pension in Scheveningen some years later, everything seem to be on track. But it is May 1940, and German airplanes fill the skies… They have to leave their pension and are finally able to find another one, taking Sonny Boy along. Then, they are forced to make one of the toughest decisions in their life: Kees Chardon, one of the leaders of the Dutch resistance, asks them if they are ready to hide some people from the Germans. They decide to do so. But their life falls apart again when they are betrayed and sent to the camps, leaving Sonny Boy behind. He stays in a hiding place in the country, dreaming about the return of his parents…. Director’s statement The film is a love story between two apparently ordinary people: typical Dutch Rika, mother of four children; and a coloured guy from Surinam called Waldemar, who is 17 years younger. But of course this wasn’t ordinary at all. Rika would fit into this millennium easily enough, but she was born more than a century ago. She was a free spirit and allowed no one to tell her what to do. She didn’t care about moral conventions or petty neighbours. Waldemar, too, was quite special. He was loyal to Rika until she died, in spite of the fact he was so much younger than her, and became a father to their love child Sonny Boy in an era when racism was normal, and black men never mingled with white women. Their love is stronger than all moral and political forces - until the war splits them apart. The story is set between 1911 and 1945. It’s a strong story - or, to use the words of author Annejet van der Zijl, a “story that wanted to be told”. The original novel (which has been translated into many languages and will be published in English by Faber & Faber in 2009) moved thousands of readers and the reviews were extraordinarily positive. For a director, the challenge is the same: the story needs to be filmed and I am dedicated to transforming the book into a film with real emotions, as befits this unusual love affair. Writer/director Maria Peters Maria Peters graduated from the Dutch Film Academy in 1983. In 1987, she formed Shooting Star Filmcompany, along with Hans Pos and Dave Schram. Filmography as director 1995 De tasjesdief 1999 Kruimeltje 2002 Pietje Bell: De film 2003 Pietje Bell II: De jacht op de tsarenkroon 2006 Afblijven
Director Maria Peters Producer Hans Pos, Dave Schram Writer Pieter van de Waterbeemd, Maria Peters Based on the novel of the same name by Annejet van der Zijl Language Dutch Genre Drama Format 35mm Running time 110 mins approx Love conquers everything but death. Target audience 25-85, similar to the audience for Dutch feature Twin Sisters Budget € 6,000,000 Cast tbc Filmography as writer 1995 De tasjesdief 1998 Een echte hond 1999 Kruimeltje 2002 Pietje Bell: De film 2003 Pietje Bell II: De jacht op de tsarenkroon 2005 My Skateboard 2006 Afblijven 2007 Timboektoe 2008 Radeloos Production company Shooting Star Shooting Star Filmcompany was founded in 1987 by Hans Pos, Dave Schram and Maria Peters. It is now one of the leading and most successful independent production companies in the Netherlands. Titles include 1993 Daens (directed by Stijn Coninx; nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars) 1995 De tasjesdief (written and directed by Maria Peters; winner of the Crystal Bear at Berlin) 1997 Left Luggage (directed by Jeroen Krabbé; starring Isabella Rossellini, Maximilian Schell, selected for Berlin) 1999 Kruimeltje (Little Crumb; written and directed by Maria Peters; one of the all-time Dutch box-office hits, with more than 1,300,000 admissions; Dutch entry for the Academy Awards) 2002 Pietje Bell (written and directed by Maria Peters; another Dutch boxoffice hit, with 850,000 admissions) Bella Bettien (directed by Hans Pos) 2003 Pietje Bell 2 (written and directed by Maria Peters; 700,000 admissions) 2006 Afblijven (written and directed by Maria Peters; based on the novel by Carry Slee; 450,000 admissions) 2007 Kapitein Rob (Captain Bob and the Secret of Professor Lupardi; directed by Hans Pos) Timboektoe (written by Maria Peters; directed by Dave Schram; 250,000 admissions) 2008 Radeloos (written by Maria Peters; directed by Dave Schram; due for release in October 2008) Current status Sonny Boy is budgeted at €6 million, 80% of which is in place. The film is backed by the Dutch Film Fund, the Dutch Matching Fund, KRO TV and the CoBo Fund; it also has some private investors who are willing to support this prestigious project. It has a very strong and dedicated Dutch distributor in A-Film, which plans to release it in December 2009 with more than 100 prints. Our target is to start shooting the film in March 2009. At present, we’re looking for partners to make up the final 20% of the budget. Aims at the NPP The main reason for attending the Netherlands Production Platform is to find a dedicated co-producer, who is willing to add both his or her experience and passion as well as bringing in the remaining financial support. Contact Hans Pos Shooting Star Filmcompany BV Prinsengracht 546 1017 KK Amsterdam Netherlands Tel: (31) 20 624 7272 info@shootingstar.nl www.shootingstar.nl NPP 2008 • 43
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 36 and 37: A Kronstadt Tale Van Lieshout Filmp
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 46: Index English titles, original titl

Netherlands Production Platform - Nederlands Film Festival

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?