About a hundred Schalkwijk residents, including many young people, came to see their hero on the silver screen yesterday. Not a famous actor, but just Dominique Schemmekes. A neighborhood boy, who got his life on track through basketball and is now a celebrated coach.
This summer there will be pop-up open-air cinemas at ten locations in Haarlem, organized by cinema De Schuur. Last night the screen was on the Fie Carlsenplein in Schalkwijk, in collaboration with STAD Haarlem and Triple Threat. As a bonus before the main film, the premiere of the short film ‘Eight’ by director Remy Cats, which is about the life of Dominique Schemmekes, was screened.
role model
The story of basketball coach Dominique from Triple Threat is recognizable for many young people in the area. Schemmekes: “I had trouble with school and that makes you hang out on the street a bit more and eventually you start looking at the wrong people you see around you. But basketball saved me because I have other ‘role models’ saw.”
Dominique is among the open-air cinema visitors. He really likes not to see his own story on the silver screen. “I’m not a fan of it, I prefer one-on-one contact with the children to tell my story. But sometimes you have to and if you can help other people with that, I’ll do it with love.”
Look here at the report and the reactions of young people in the audience who already see Dominique Schemmekes as their ‘role model’.