04/07/2008

Though the honour of having distributed most of the Dutch successes of 2008 so far goes to Independent Films (see news), distributor A-Film has just announced its line-up for the second half of the year and could change the situation before year’s end. A-film has in fact no less than five Dutch films and one US remake pencilled in for release in either September or October.

Eugenie Jansen’s itinerant circus tale Calimucho will kick off the autumn avalanche of Dutch films. The Circe production will be released on September 11.

One week later, Stanley Tucci’s eponymous remake of Theo van Gogh’s Blind Date will hit Dutch screens. After Steve Buscemi’s Interview [+see also:
trailer
film profile], it is the second in a trilogy of remakes with and by US actor-directors. Van Gogh’s regular producer Column Productions co-produced the feature.

The new film from director Robert Jan Westdijk, Het Echte Leven (“Real Life”) will open the Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht on September 24 before its commercial release one day later. The film, about a young director who puts his actress girlfriend to the test, was produced by Motel Films in co-production with Fu Works.

October’s first Dutch release courtesy of A-film is Het zusje van Katia (“Katia’s Little Sister”), the new film from Mijke de Jong, whose Stages was awarded a special mention at the 2007 Locarno Film Festival. The film focuses on the younger sister of a Russian prostitute in Amsterdam.

Also opening in October are Ben Sombogaart’s Bride Flight (see news) on October 16 (see news) and the latest film from Eddy Terstall, Vox Populi. The latter mixes family intrigue and politics and will hit Dutch screens on October 23.