09/12/2016 - The audacious Dutch filmmaker's wide range of perspectives and his experience on both sides of the Atlantic will make him a tremendous jury chair, according to Dieter Kosslick

Dutch director and screenwriter Paul Verhoeven, who was recently highly acclaimed for the juicy Elle [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], has been chosen to chair the jury of the 67th Berlin Film Festival (9-19 February 2017).

For Dieter Kosslick, the director of the gathering, this role suits the filmmaker down to the ground, “as he has worked in a variety of genres in Europe and Hollywood. His creative, multifaceted boldness and his willingness to experiment are reflected in the spectrum of his works.”

Following his studies in Maths and Physics, Verhoeven directed his feature debut, Business Is Business, in 1971. This tale of two prostitutes dreaming of a normal life was followed by the erotic thriller Turkish Delight, nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film in 1974, and then Soldier of Orange (1977), which was nominated for the Golden Globes and earned him a reputation all around the world. At the end of the 1980s, Verhoeven settled in Hollywood, where he made spectacular action films such as RoboCop (1987) and Total Recall (1990), as well as the cult movie Basic Instinct (1992), which was nominated for two Oscars, followed by sci-fi films such as Starship Troopers.

Black Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2006), about a Dutch resistance fighter, marked Verhoeven's return to Europe, after which he focused on writing for a certain period. He made a comeback to Cannes in May this year with the superb French-German co-production Elle, starring Isabelle Huppert, which has been nominated for three European Film Awards.

Four years ago, the brilliant filmmaker was invited by the Berlinale to share his extraordinary experience at the Talent Campus.

(Translated from French)