Johan Doesburg - Passage
12:40, 2006DirectorJohan DoesburgWriterJohan Doesburg, Tom Schenk & Betsy TorenbosEditorGabriel Bauer
CountryNetherlandsEdition2006
< overview
Who is Johan Doesburg?
In 1994 I became artistic director with the Dutch national theatre, het Nationale Toneel in my city of birth The Hague. Since I started directing for theatre in 1987 I produced around forty plays. I have a preoccupation with great authors like Shakespeare, but I also like modern writers like Sarah Kane and Lars Norén.
Why filmmaking?
Being a theatre director with a great fascination for film, I played with the idea for a while of making a short theatrical film of my own. By the time I met Frits Harkema of Quintus films these wild fantasy became more concrete.
Passage is about….
Passage (12m: 40s) shows us the rite of passage of a young dancer. On her journey trough the night she encounters three men: a giant, a demon and a prophet. Who can be trusted, who cant? Can she even trust her own senses? And will the girl find a passage back to reality? People once called films, moving pictures. This silent film is intended to feel like moving poetry. Passage also is a poetic tribute to the historical building by the same name.
Financing your movie?
The film was financed with the price money that we won for the play ‘Hamlet’ (Het Nationale Toneel, 1999). Ofcourse this wasn’t enough money to pay for the complete production, so the film wouldn’t have been possible without the voluntary cooperation of many talented people and especially Quintus films.
New media: a challenge for film makers?
Of course nothing can replace the cinema. A good film should be seen on the big screen. But the internet is a very interesting stage for filmmakers who can not been seen in the cinema. I believe it’s good to give them a stage, but in the end a filmmaker should strive for the big screen.
Do your films have style, just as some painters have?
I only made two films up to now. I was involved with Theo van Gogh’s ‘06’, which was actually based on one of my plays. Passage is my second film and the first one I directed. I believe it’s very much similar to the way I direct for the theatre. There’s one big difference: theatre for me, is more about words. In film the image is much stronger. So I wanted to ‘show them, don’t tell tem’
Influences?
Difficult question, there are so many interesting films. I believe I am much indebted to Fassbinder in many way’s. The first play I directed as a professional was ‘Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod’(‘Garbage, the city and dead’) by Rainier Werner Fassbinder and I really enjoy his films. But I’m also influenced by great directors like Frederico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and many, many others…..
Individual film making or co-operation?
Art is not a democratic process, so when I’m directing I want to be in charge. But of course I want to use the input of the people I work with. Especially with film. I didn’t attend film school, so I don’t know everything about all the technical possibility’s. Thus I need people who know these things, and can help me realizing my vision.
Your plans and dreams
I would like to make an adaptation on film of “Mystiek Lichaam” a novel by Frans Kellendonk. Or maybe ‘Lulu’ by Frank Wedekind. Both great works of literature, the first one very theatrical, the second one a masterpiece of the theatre.
Did you ever had another ambition in life than become a filmmaker?
First I was a teacher, but then I wanted to become a theatre director. So I did.
Digital or classic?
No preference. Everything that helps the director of photography making beautiful shots.
View other work of Johan Doesburg
You can watch ‘06’ by Theo van Gogh, based on one of my plays. Or visit my next play yourself. I just started working on ‘Volkert & Mohammed’ by Ger Beukenkamp and next year I will be doing ‘Othello’ by Shakespeare and ‘The count of Monte Cristo’ based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Visit our our website for more information.
< overview
< Artists interviews
CountryNetherlandsEdition2006
< overview
Interview
In 1994 I became artistic director with the Dutch national theatre, het Nationale Toneel in my city of birth The Hague. Since I started directing for theatre in 1987 I produced around forty plays. I have a preoccupation with great authors like Shakespeare, but I also like modern writers like Sarah Kane and Lars Norén.
Why filmmaking?
Being a theatre director with a great fascination for film, I played with the idea for a while of making a short theatrical film of my own. By the time I met Frits Harkema of Quintus films these wild fantasy became more concrete.
Passage is about….
Passage (12m: 40s) shows us the rite of passage of a young dancer. On her journey trough the night she encounters three men: a giant, a demon and a prophet. Who can be trusted, who cant? Can she even trust her own senses? And will the girl find a passage back to reality? People once called films, moving pictures. This silent film is intended to feel like moving poetry. Passage also is a poetic tribute to the historical building by the same name.
Financing your movie?
The film was financed with the price money that we won for the play ‘Hamlet’ (Het Nationale Toneel, 1999). Ofcourse this wasn’t enough money to pay for the complete production, so the film wouldn’t have been possible without the voluntary cooperation of many talented people and especially Quintus films.
New media: a challenge for film makers?
Of course nothing can replace the cinema. A good film should be seen on the big screen. But the internet is a very interesting stage for filmmakers who can not been seen in the cinema. I believe it’s good to give them a stage, but in the end a filmmaker should strive for the big screen.
Do your films have style, just as some painters have?
I only made two films up to now. I was involved with Theo van Gogh’s ‘06’, which was actually based on one of my plays. Passage is my second film and the first one I directed. I believe it’s very much similar to the way I direct for the theatre. There’s one big difference: theatre for me, is more about words. In film the image is much stronger. So I wanted to ‘show them, don’t tell tem’
Influences?
Difficult question, there are so many interesting films. I believe I am much indebted to Fassbinder in many way’s. The first play I directed as a professional was ‘Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod’(‘Garbage, the city and dead’) by Rainier Werner Fassbinder and I really enjoy his films. But I’m also influenced by great directors like Frederico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and many, many others…..
Individual film making or co-operation?
Art is not a democratic process, so when I’m directing I want to be in charge. But of course I want to use the input of the people I work with. Especially with film. I didn’t attend film school, so I don’t know everything about all the technical possibility’s. Thus I need people who know these things, and can help me realizing my vision.
Your plans and dreams
I would like to make an adaptation on film of “Mystiek Lichaam” a novel by Frans Kellendonk. Or maybe ‘Lulu’ by Frank Wedekind. Both great works of literature, the first one very theatrical, the second one a masterpiece of the theatre.
Did you ever had another ambition in life than become a filmmaker?
First I was a teacher, but then I wanted to become a theatre director. So I did.
Digital or classic?
No preference. Everything that helps the director of photography making beautiful shots.
View other work of Johan Doesburg
You can watch ‘06’ by Theo van Gogh, based on one of my plays. Or visit my next play yourself. I just started working on ‘Volkert & Mohammed’ by Ger Beukenkamp and next year I will be doing ‘Othello’ by Shakespeare and ‘The count of Monte Cristo’ based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Visit our our website for more information.
< overview
