Michiel van Erp
2021I Am a Woman Now
Michiel van Erp
April Ashley, Colette Berends
Whoever wanted a sex reassignment surgery in the 1950's could do so in Casablanca, at French gynaecologist Georges Burou's clinic, without fear of psychological examination. The French transgender singer known as Coccinelle was one of the first to use Burou’s services, and many others followed. Michiel Van Erp’s film follows five women who underwent surgery during that time, just before the sexual revolution and the Gay Liberation movement of the 1960's. Intimate interviews reveal their lifestyle, what made them change their sex, how it influenced their lives, and how they cope with the unavoidable ageing.
I Am a Woman Now
Erwin Olaf, on Beauty and Fall
Michiel van Erp
Erwin Olaf
Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf (1959) is on the threshold of an important year: his most recent photographic series, Hope, Grief and Rain appear to have given him an international breakthrough. His work has been criticized since the 1980s as being produced merely for its shock value, thus eliminating it as art. But now that important art dealers and museums all over the world are showing his works, and huge crowds are visiting his expositions, it seems as if his years of hard work will finally lead to serious recognition. Yet this is occurring, of all times, in a period of his life in which Erwin Olaf is contending with emphysema, a debilitating disease that obliges him to deal cautiously with his energy reserves. Whether his body can keep up with his work pace is uncertain.
Erwin Olaf, on Beauty and Fall
Sylvia Kristel: Nu
Michiel van Erp
Sylvia Kristel, Monique van de Ven
Thirty years ago Sylvia Kristel became world-famous with 'Emmanuelle'. This erotic film was the starting point of a curious career, during which Sylvia acted in more than 50 international film productions, including a short-lived career in Hollywood. A turbulent life followed, in which alcohol and drug addictions formed a recurring theme. Penniless, she now lives in a small two-room apartment in Amsterdam. Last year La Kristel took control of her life: her autobiography Nue was published in France and has already been sold to several countries.
Sylvia Kristel: Nu
Angst
Michiel van Erp
Arthur Japin
In Fear, documentary filmmaker Michiel van Erp creates a collage of inhabitants of the city of Amsterdam who struggle with various anxiety disorders. Today, more patients with anxiety disorders seek professional help than those who suffer from depression, making anxiety the number one mental illness in the Netherlands. This film will show how a small number of those patients attempt to overcome their fears, in order to get on with their lives in the crowded cosmopolitan city that Amsterdam is today.
Fear
De Wereld aan je Voeten
Michiel van Erp
In 2010, director Michiel van Erp started filming a group of children in Utrecht. He kept filming them till 2018, the year they turned 18. The film portrays those moments which were crucial for the development and personal growth of the kids.
De Wereld aan je Voeten
Divina Gloria
Michiel van Erp
Hans Croiset, Shanti Devi Uppal
The tropical plant Divina Gloria comes to fruition once every hundred years. For the duration of only one night she shows her exuberant beauty. Then she dies. In this bittersweet comedy we follow a number of people in the Hortus Botanicus, who witness this short-lived bloom. During the night, they become more and more entranced by this sultry miracle, with an ecstatic outcome.
Divina Gloria
Brasserie Valentijn
Sanne Vogel
Georgina Verbaan, Egbert Jan Weeber
Thirty-something Valentine runs a renowned restaurant and her stylish dining room is fully booked for Valentine's Day. Chef cook Angelo prepares the food and the tables are romantically covered. The guests enter, hoping for love on their menus. Valentine has everything under control, she thinks. But how could she expect that Frank, her old flame from 12 years ago would suddenly reappear on this day of love...
Brasserie Valentine
Erwin Olaf - The Legacy
Michiel van Erp
Renowned Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf poses himself some big questions: What has been the meaning of his career? Does his work have any value, and if so, will it continue to be valued in the future? Has his artistic calling, has his life, been of any use? The film shows the struggles of a celebrated artist at the peak of his fame taking stock, with pain in his heart, of a life’s hard work - while, just at the right time, his body of work is safeguarded for posterity.
Erwin Olaf - The Legacy
