Projects
LILET NEVER HAPPENED
Lilet (13) is an angry, bitter young girl. But if she wants to, she can look innocent and angelic. After the police have arrested her for streetwalking, social worker Gloria Thomkins desperately tries to keep her from re-entering the world of child prostitution. But Lilet doesn't want Gloria's pity.
The Makers:
Writer-director - Jacco Groen
2nd lead - Johanna Ter Steege
Writer - Roy C. Iglesias
Filmographies:
Jacco Groen - Solina (1994) - Hookers at the Crossroads (2002) - Losing Track (2006)
Johanna Ter Steege - Immortal Beloved (1994) - Guernsey (2005) - Last Conversation (2009)
Roy C. Iglesias - The Echo (2004) - Baler (2008) - The Other Man (2011)
Author's statement:
I met the real Lilet ten years ago when I was doing research. She was in a mental hospital after a suicide attempt. For me she is the symbol of a broken mind in a perverted society.
Jacco Groen, May 2008
ATSISVEIKINIMAS (FAREWELL) 
A seaman comes ashore for the last time in his life. As Autumn turns into Winter he faces everyone he loves and cares for, driven by a relentless lack of time. Then he boards his ship for a voyage from which he knows he will not return.
The Makers:
Writer-director - Tomas Donela
Director of photography - Rimvydas Leipus
Lead actor - Dainius Kazlauskas
Filmographies:
Tomas Donela - Sonnet (1989) - The harrowed coast (1992) - The Boy and the Sea (2006)
Rimvydas Leipus - A Casa (1997) - Freedom (2000) - Khadak (2006)
Dainius Kazlauskas - Attila (2001) - Matroesjkas (2005) - Have no fear (2005)
Author's statement:
Farewell is a moving universal story, verbally laconic and visually rich. It's a clear-cut story of the human spirit, which is both relentless and immortal.
Tomas Donela, March 2006
ZARA 
After having lived in Switzerland for years, Mirka sets off to find her Kurdish home village, accompanied by her friend Nursa. While Mirka tries to retrace a lost history, Nursa is struggling with her own past and is forced to confront what is left of her future.
The Makers:
Writer-director - Ayten Mutlu Saray
Director of photography - Felix von Muralt
Sound designer - Eric Spitzer-Marlyn
Filmographies:
Ayten Mutlu Saray - Alima, life is like an egg on a rock (2000) - La Mort en Exil (2002) - In northern Tibet (2005)
Felix von Muralt - La Mort en Exil (2002) - Nocturne (2004) - Pedra, a reporter without borders (2006)
Eric Spitzer-Marlyn - Klaus Kinski, mein liebster Feind (1999) - Wheel of Time (2003) - The White Diamond (composer; 2004)
Author's statement:
What I'm interested in, is the basic ambivalence between inside and outside, of material versus spiritual reality, the unification of the authentic and the poetic.
Ayten Mutlu Saray, January 2004
ODE OBER
'Ode Ober' (int. title: 'Awaiterpraise') is a short experimental film on 'the story behind the apron'. Meet the waiter. He and his colleagues all have their own reasons for supplying perfect strangers with food and drinks. This film is an ode and as such doesn't necessarily focus on the factual aspects of the job of waiting, but rather on the poetic and even mystical exploits of those who wait.
The Makers:
Writer-director - Hiba Vink
Director of photography - Wouter Westendorp
Production manager - Saskia van der Tas
Filmographies:
Hiba Vink - De Wissel (1995) - Purple Boots (2003) - Ish (2004)
Wouter Westendorp - The Other Final (camera assistant; 2002) - Sextet (camera operator; 2005) - commercials Menzis, NUON, IKEA, Heineken, Lada Niva (director of photography; 2005)
Saskia van der Tas - Vuurzee (tv-series, 2005) - Nachtegaal & Zonen (tv-series, 2007) - Roes (tv-series, 2008)
Author's statement:
An ode often concerns matters that have brought about a certain accumulation of emotions, held together by bits and strings from our stockpile of memories and mental connections. Our fascination for it has dug in somewhere just beyond common sense.
Hiba Vink, October 2005
STONE / A POET IN BRUSSELS
Through live action
footage and animated graphics we're gradually introduced to the lost
life of a poet, haunted by memories of a tragic mishap and the good
times preceding it. In an attempt to escape his sorrow he moves into a
new apartment, but there a seemingly unstoppable process of
self-destruction sets in. Finally he undertakes to reconstruct himself
and his past using fragments of his distorted visions.
The Makers:
Director - Pablo Diartínez
Director of photography - Anton Mertens
Delegate producer - Frederik Zaman
Filmographies:
Pablo Diartínez - video animation Paixao (2002) - Album/Window (Argos Festival, 2005) - Untitled Highway (2005)
Anton Mertens - tv series Bumba (2004) - Forgotten Crossroads (2004) - Lijn 72 (2006)
Frederik Zaman - Het Boek (2001) - Dag Opa (2005) - Selected Shorts #3 (2006)
Author's statement:
Adaptation and transformation in general of both image and text are key elements in creating what me and my brother Jorge (who wrote the award winning poetry on which 'Stone' is based) choose to call 'expanded poetry'.
Pablo Diartínez, January 2005
HOFFMAN'S ORGANIZER; on the relative meaninglessness of events in real space 
Hoffman is an actuary at a life insurance broker. His spare time is consumed by his search for the mysterious 'Organizer', the mechanism that keeps the universe from being the chaos it should theoretically be. In his desperate search for enlightenment, he is aided by a Somali scientist and a manipulative municipal cleaner. As well as a limited amount of hot air.
The Makers:
Writer - Jos van der Pal
Script editor - Eveline Verwoerd
Line producer - Arjen Slings
Filmographies:
Jos van der Pal - Losing Track (producer; 2006) - Awaiterpraise (producer; 2008) - Zara (producer; 2008)
Eveline Verwoerd - tv series Heart Beat (NCRV Television, 2003) - Elmer's Return (Gerrard Verhage, 2001) - A matter of honour (Theo van Gogh, 2003)
Arjen Slings - The new Lolas; Du (2003) - One night stand; New Shoes (2004) - Rotterdam shorts; Dream Trace (2005)
Author's statement:
What we're aiming for is an accessible, original and humorous way of exploring the demarcation zone between science and religion. We do this by following a lone hero's attempt to cross these treacherous wastelands.
Jos van der Pal, November 2005
LOSING TRACK (SPOORWEG)
The nightmare begins when you lose track of your daughter on a moving train, just when you're on your way to return her to your ex wife. Simultaneously the poetry fest you're setting up begins to fall apart. It all gets worse when you notice the train to be riding in circles… Is it the waking dream of a guilt-ridden father, or could it be the vengeance of his angry little daughter?
Director Jacco Groen ingeniously incorporates the recurring attributes and atmosphere of the paintings of Paul Delvaux into this short, surrealist fiction film.
The Makers:
Writer-director - Jacco Groen
Director of photography - Peterjan van der Burgh
Production manager - Esther Thedinga
Filmographies:
Jacco Groen - Solina (1994) - When Tom was told that he was dead (1998) - The Phoenix (1999)
Peterjan van der Burgh - Morlang (gaffer; 2000) - Luifel & Luifel (13 part TV-series; 2002) - Fighting Fish (2004)
Esther Thedinga - The Tulse Luper Suit Cases (2004) - Leef! (2005) - Crusade in Jeans (2005)
Author's statement:
What's nice about the surrealist 'genre' is that there remains so much to talk about after the film's final credits. I'm fascinated by the inseparable blend of dream and actuality, with its constant friction between what's real and what's not.
Jacco Groen, October 2005
REAL ESTATE 
A nearly bankrupt baron and his personnel - a ragtag bunch of eastern European refugees - get along fine in their shared desire for living in an anachronistic fantasy world on the family estate. The bubble bursts when a villainous intruder starts playing off each character against the other. His criminal intentions oddly inspire the awakened dreamers.
The Makers:
Writer - Stefanieke Veenstra
Filmography:
- Girl with Keys (Canal+ screenplay award; 2000) - On the Road (TV; 2001) - Moped Girls (2005)
Author's statement:
The film's characters may seem fragile, but eventually their strength lies in their capacity for re-inventing their identities. And at a point in their lives where building a new future requires exactly that.
Stefanieke Veenstra, September 2004
MEN WITH BRAINS; a cheerful tragedy 
Women are of no interest to him, friends of no use. Only his colleagues matter to the headstrong computer-scientist GERBEN. STEIN, the software lab's managing director, is the only setback. His managerial insights disguise his mediocrity in the field of computing. When his character collides with Gerben's, a train of events is set into motion that will end in mutiny and subsequent disaster.
The Makers:
Director - Saskia Diesing
Screenplay - Marc Veerkamp
(story by Jos van der Pal and Marc Veerkamp)
Line producers - Corrino Media Corporation
Filmographies:
Saskia Diesing - Waskracht (TV; 2000-2002) - The new Lolas; Du (2003) - One night stand; New Shoes (2004)
Marc Veerkamp - Mediaal (Dutch Film Academy; 1996) - Sesame Street; Santaclaus special (TV; 2004) - Lock (play; 2004)
Corrino Media Corp - The horseless Prince (2003) - De grotten van Han van Vleuten (2003) - Flirt (2004)
Author's statement:
I envision a tragi-comedy that will generously expose extra-ordinary characters and their yet quite ordinary incapacity for communication.
Saskia Diesing, July 2004