03/01/2012

The fifth feature from director Nanouk Leopold will start shooting this winter.

The second film of the Dutch filmmaker, Guernsey [+see also:
trailer
film profile] from 2005, was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and her follow-up, Wolfsbergen , was presented in Berlin in 2007. Her latest feature, the English-language Brownian Movement [+see also:
trailer
film profile], premiered in Toronto in 2010 and was also part of the 2011 Berlinale line-up.

Leopold’s fifth film, It’s All So Quiet, is currently in pre-production and will start shooting at the end of February in rural Zeeland, in the south-west of the Low Countries.

The screenplay of It’s All So Quiet, penned by Leopold herself, is based on the novel by Gerbrand Bakker, which was published in 2006. Its English translation followed in 2008, and won the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, rave reviews and became a bestseller in countries such as Germany and France. It has now been published in some 20 territories, including China, Lebanon and Israel.

The novel tells the story of the 55-year-old farmer’s son Helmer (Jeroen Willems), who realizes that his life has always been influenced too heavily by what his elderly and overbearing father (Henri Garcin) expected of him. But as his father starts his slow march towards death, Helmer discovers a few things about himself and his family.

Flemish actor Wim Opbrouck as well as Dutch thespians Lies Visschedijk, Loes Wouterson and Martijn Lakemeier co-star.

Isabella Films and Circe Films produce the project, in co-production with Dutch broadcaster VPRO and COIN Film in Germany. The film received financial backing from the Netherlands Film Fund, CoBO Fund, Filmstiftung NRW and MEDIA Slate Funding. Paris-based Films Distribution handles world rights, while Cinéart will distribute the film locally in February 2013.