Short films

Short films
 

Preferably documentaries are never too long

From mini online documentaries to shorts, children’s films, brief and our film debut; Prospektor loves short films and is keen to make a lot more of them. Below, we have set out a selection of short films that Eefje and Arnold have made since founding Prospektor in 2004.

JOELLA, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, 2013
At first sight, Joëlla seems to be just like any other girl. However, if you look at her face for a little while longer, you can see that something isn’t quite right. There is no philtrum between her nose and upper lip, she has a thin upper lip and she is much smaller and thinner than other children of her age. Joëlla has Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). When Joëlla’s mother was pregnant, she drank a lot of alcohol and consequently Joëlla’s brain is not like those of healthy children. Because of the ‘error’ in her brain, Joëlla finds it difficult to remember things, she sometimes gets very angry and she is often hyperactive. All this not only makes learning difficult, it is also hard for her to make friends. At her new school, she has finally made some new friends, but will she manage to hold on to them? How do you do that: stay BFF –Best Friends Forever?

The idea for the film arose from the FAS project, run by Joost Bos and Allard de Witte, with whom Prospektor had also produced several films for their exhibition and website. Broadcast by IKON – Mensjesrechten.  

COLOPHON
Directing: Eefje Blankevoort 
Camera: Rogier Timmermans & Jefrim Rothuizen
Sound: Carla van der Meijs, Willem de Wijs
Editing: Maurik de Ridder 
Colour Correction: Loods Lux en Lumen
Sound editing: Warning Studios
Title design: Manuel Rodrigues
Production: Natascha Teunissen / Ikon
Final editing: Saskia Wielinga / Ikon

JONG GELEERD, OUD GEDAAN/ CATCH THEM YOUNG, 2013
Together with our colleague Sanne Rovers, we made the children’s series Jong geleerd, oud gedaan for VPRO’s Villa Achterwerk. Swimming, playing a sport, roller-skating or skiing; you learn to do all these things when you’re still young. However..... some fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers never learned to do them. In Jong geleerd, oud gedaan children (aged 8-12) teach an older member of their family to do something that they mastered when they were young.  In four 8-minute episodes, we followed these children and their parents/grandparents while they taught them and it involved lots of falling over and getting up again. Did these older beginners learn enough in two weeks to get through the final test?

COLOPHON
Idea, research, production, directing and editing: Eefje Blankevoort en Sanne Rovers
Camera: Thomas Roebers 
Sound: Hein Verhoeven 
Production assistant: Carlijn Limburg 
Final editing: VPRO: Jack Valkering

PLAY FOR KEEPS, 2011
‘Play for keeps’ is a film about the most exciting playground game there is: marbles. With other games, there’s nothing to lose, but with this game there is a real risk of being left no marbles at all. ‘The absurdness of this childhood conflict is also the only reason to take it seriously – the chilren are just like people,’ says documentary maker Peter Fleury in his report on the film for the Mediafonds (Media Fund). ‘Play for keeps’ s a 15-minute documentary made for and about children. The film plan was developed during the Kids and Docs workshop, which was sponsored by IDFA, Mediafonds and Cinekid. The film premiered on 19 November during the IDFA.

COLOPHON
Directing: Arnold van Bruggen
Camera: Rogier Timmermans / Peter Brugman
Sound: Gideon Bijlsma / Willem de Wijs
Production: Prospektor / NTR 
Editing: Sarah Domogala / Eefje Blankevoort
Final editing: Loes Wormmeester / NTR
Titles: Sara Orfali
Colour correction: Joppo
Sound editing: Sharkee

Made possible by Cinekid / IDFA / Mediafonds

DUTCH DOC DOCS, 2010
In the spring of 2010, in partnership with researcher Mirelle Thijsen, Prospektor produced a series of five films about photographers with an inquisitive nature: Rob Hornstra, Andrea Stultiens, Willem Popelier, Petra Stavast and Judith van Ijken. The films talk about their working methods and the way they see and their mindsets. The first three films premiered at the New York Photo Festival.

COLOPHON
Directing: Eefje Blankevoort & Arnold van Bruggen
Interviews: Mirelle Thijssen 
Camera: Rogier Timmermans 
Editing: Eefje Blankevoort
Titles: Sara Orfali

NOBODY TELLS ME WHAT TO BELIEVE, 2008
Niemand vertelt mij wat ik moet geloven / Nobody tells me what to believe (2008) is an intimate portrait of the Amsterdam division of the only personalised church reformation movement in the Netherlands. The self-written creed and baptism at an adult age form the core of the Baptist Church. This leads to the unique situation in which, in Amsterdam’s Singelkerk, on a sunny Whit Sunday in 2008, after a long process of thinking, talking, writing and rewriting, 11 ‘candidates’ formulate their own religion that reflects how they think they would like to practice it. In Niemand vertelt mij wat ik moet geloven three confirmation candidates are followed in the run-up to their confirmation and baptism. It was the first time cameras were allowed in..

COLOFON
Directing and composition: Eefje Blankevoort & Arnold van Bruggen
Camera: Rogier Timmermans & Bas Zwartepoorte
Editing: Allard Bon

TAINTED REVOLUTION, 2006
‘Tainted Revolution’ is a short documentary about anti-Semitic riots during the Hungarian uprising of 1956. The economic malaise in Hungary prior to 1956 is often mentioned by historians as one of the key reasons behind the resistance. What has never previously been revealed is that the uprising – and the run-up to it – went hand-in-hand with blatant anti-Semitic incidents and propaganda. Prospektor made a film about this underexposed history.

COLOFON
Editing & production: Arnold van Bruggen / Prospektor
Interviews & research: Martin Mevius
Camera & sound: Rogier Timmermans
Editing: Peter van Houten
Duration: 22 min 54

PORA!, 2004
In December 2004, Arnold and his then Prospektor companion Thomas Kaan saw an opportunity to experience the Orange Revolution in Ukraine at close hand and to see, smell and hear what a revolution is really all about. They wrote a long report about the Orange Revolution in Ukraine for Vrij Nederland. They concentrated mainly on the role that other Velvet Revolutions in the region (Serbia and Georgian) had played. They made a short film about the campaign run by PORA!, the student movement that played a major role during the revolution. A year later – in December 2005 – they returned to interview the same people and describe how their lives had changed since the revolution. Once again, the results were published in Vrij Nederland.

Directing, camera, editing: Arnold van Bruggen & Tomas Kaan. 

AMSTERDAM-KOSOVO, 2004
Amsterdam-Kosovo (2004) is a report on the continuing problems in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Five years after the NATO intervention, Prospektor travelled in an ambulance to the war-torn area of former Yugoslavia.

During our journey, we found out that the area was still being beset by ethnic tensions. Young Albanian and Serbian Kosovans talk about their day-to-day problems, their expectations and their disillusions. “Serbians live in fear, as we used to”, says Spent, a former KLA soldier. Then there is the Serbian Ivana: “I believe that Albanians can live alongside Serbians in a democratic country, but they seem to be scared to admit it.”

The documentary was first broadcast by IKON on the Factor programme in September 2004 and in the ‘De Balie’ cultural centre in Amsterdam. Amsterdam-Kosovo was also selected for the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Amsterdam-Kosovo was co-produced by Prospektor and IKON 

Directing & composition: Eefje Blankevoort, Roos Boer, Arnold van Bruggen, Tomas Kaan en Gert Corba (IKON) 
Camera & sound: Eefje Blankevoort & Tomas Kaan
Editing: Vera Jong
Production: IKON & Prospektor