Novelty-starved movie-lovers will be able to catch a glimpse of Holland's latest and best productions at Kino Palace
The Dutch Film Festival is back in Kyiv. And now in its fourth year, it’s coming to the masses. Access to film festivals in Kyiv is generally restricted to the filmmaking community, journalists and a few lucky guests down at Dom Kino. This time around, however, the capital’s novelty-starved movie-lovers will be able to catch a glimpse of Holland’s latest and best productions at Kino Palace from April 27 through 29. And they will certainly find a refreshing change from the cheap, commercial Western movies that are the staple of local screens.
“The Dutch filmmaking tradition is much closer to Ukrainian tastes than, say, Hollywood,” commented Olha Zhuravlyova, the festival’s curator. “Several generations of Ukrainians were brought up watching the European classics, and many of them miss this today.”
Dutch films can seldom be described as action-packed – often the plot of a full-length feature may center on a particular object or the events of a single day. But they are often highly artistic.
“The Dutch rarely make films about fantasies – most of their films are about real life,” said Zhuravlyova.
One of the best examples of this trend is Cyrus Frisch’s “I Shall Honor Your Life,” which was shown at the 1998 festival. This film is a very personal and occasionally shocking tribute to Frisch’s friend and teacher Hans Saaltink, film-critic and festival organizer.
“This naturalism and the stress on the spiritual side of things may be rooted in the traditions of the Dutch Renaissance, when artists unflinchingly depicted the wounds of the crucified Christ and the suffering on people’s faces,” Zhuravlyova explained. “Or maybe it’s the Dutch climate with its meager colors that influences this introspection.”
However, there is a more mundane explanation for the origin of this tradition. For a long time, the Dutch government would only finance the shooting of documentaries, while production of feature films remained at a rudimentary level.
Jos Stelling and Paul Verhoeven were the first Dutch film directors to receive international acclaim, back in the early 1970s. Stelling will be one of the guests at the festival with his latest work, “The Gas Station” (2000) – a humorous silent short film from the Erotic Stories series. The action unfolds in a traffic jam, where a man bumps into a car driven by a beautiful woman, forgets his business and follows her.
The festival features 36 films and is subtitled “Fathers and Children.” The program was selected to present three generations of Dutch filmmakers, from Stelling to newly debuting directors who drew inspiration from Stelling’s classics.
“It is interesting to see how young directors return to the sources of Dutch filmmaking – using the same sets and lighting techniques and even the same actors who starred back in 1970s,” said Zhuravlyova.
While Dom Kino’s program abounds in documentaries and short films, the six movies to be shown at Kino Palace are crowd-pleasing full-length features.
Paul Verhoeven’s “Turkish Delight” (1973) was named the best Dutch film of the 20th century at the country’s largest film festival in Utrecht two years ago.
In her film “Detour” (2000), director Frouke Fokkema raises the issue of women’s liberation and fulfillment.
“Wild Mussels,” the successful debut of director Erik de Bruyn, was highly acclaimed immediately upon release last year. It tells the story of three teen-age friends desperately trying to escape the confines of their hometown and stars Fedja van Huet, who played one of the lead roles in “Character.”
Festival organizers say that if the commercial showings at Kino Palace draw large enough audiences, they will consider making them available for sale to other local movie theaters.
“We are making a test step – film distributors know that American movies will sell, but they are not sure about European ones,” said Zhuravlyova. “If it proves successful, Kyivans might soon have a chance to watch Dutch films in the cinemas.”
Movies are in Dutch with English subtitles and live Ukrainian translations. For the full schedule, see next week’s movie listings on Page 27B.
***
The next production of Kyiv’s English language theater troupe, Open Door Theater (ODT) will be a musical version of “Robinson Crusoe,” presented April 27-29 at the Institute of International Relations (36/1 Melnikova). Free tickets are available at the offices of Golden Telecom, U.S. Peace Corps, IWCK and the American Chamber of Commerce.
