The award-winning makers of Boundless Betrayal are going for it again. The recordings for their new film about Vincent van Gogh are in full swing. It is still a struggle, with both the weather and money.
Everything was arranged. Actors, location, stuff. Saturday would be the third day of shooting for the film 23 Letters from Vincent about Vincent van Gogh. But the weather threw a spanner in the works. “Vincent would drive past a gypsy camp near Zweeloo on an antique farm cart with wooden wheels. But it was too swampy,” says producer Rob Camies (48) of ZODfilm (Zuidoost-Drenthe Film).
The Netherlands and autumn: it is not a happy combination. But yes, the outdoor scenes have to be filmed in the fall. Because that is the season in which Vincent van Gogh spent three months in Drenthe, in 1883. And of course it must seem as real as possible.
Vincent van Gogh and Forget Piet
Things are getting tight now, because lead actor Pim Muda is also forgettable in it Sinterklaas news and from mid-November onwards for the associated live activities.
But hey, the movie’s already delayed. Initially it was going to be released this year, in the Van Gogh year, but the makers decided to wait for money from the Film Fund. They had submitted a request to take production to a higher level. Their previous film, Limitless Betrayal they made with a budget of just one hundred thousand euros (to which Dutch Filmworks ultimately added 200,000 euros to make it suitable for the cinema).
However, the money from the Film Fund did not arrive, to the frustration of Camies and his associates.
‘Just do it yourself again’
“It’s unbelievable, but true: 95 percent of the money that the Film Fund pays out goes to producers in Amsterdam. We had to do business with an Amsterdam producer to have a chance. We worked on that for a year and a half, but for all kinds of reasons it went wrong. For example, they didn’t want to have a dialect in it, while we think that is very important. Ultimately we said: We’re just going to do it ourselves again, just like before Limitless Betrayal . But that will be the last time.”
23 Letters from Vincent is about the period when the painter stayed in Drenthe, in the former Scholte lodging house in New Amsterdam/Veenoord. He wanted to figure out what to do with his life. And paint the landscape and perhaps found an artists’ colony.
Emancipation and destiny
Jowina, the daughter of the host, found the strange guest who slept and ate with them interesting. Gradually she began to feel that she could perhaps become something other than a worker, wife and mother, which was the standard path at the time. Maybe even a painter?
“That was natural at the time not done , but times change,” says Camies. “In that respect, the film is about more than just Vincent. He deals with themes such as emancipation, of women and workers, destiny and wanting to be seen and heard. There are interesting references to the present.”
23 Letters from Vincent is a working title and refers to the 23 letters that Vincent wrote to his brother Theo during his period in Drenthe. “That’s what the film is based on. All letters have been preserved. This way we know what he did here and what his inner feelings were at the time. We encourage certain things and things also happen that are not mentioned in the letters.”
A lighter version of Vincent
Speaking of those soul stirrings: the Vincent who came to Drenthe had his troubles and demons, but according to Camies was also full of plans and ambitions. “We present a slightly lighter version of Vincent than usual. It’s actually a kind of tragicomedy. In that respect, Pim Muda fits perfectly. He looks like him, is actually a comedy actor but would like to show that he can do more.”
Camies’ goal with the film, which is expected to be released in the fall of 2025, is to put the northern region on the international map. To deal with 23 Letters from Vincent just like with Limitless Betrayal get to the cinema and Netflix and travel all over the world.
On Friday, ZODfilm received the Drentse Anjerprijs 2023 because of the ambition with which it is building an attractive film climate in Drenthe. And according to Camies, that is indeed the actual goal.
‘I see with sadness how much talent is leaving’
“It’s purely ideological. At the moment, no money is going to Drenthe from the Film Fund because no films are being made, it is said. Well, then we ensure that films are made, right? Then that argument is gone. We stop all income from Limitless Betrayal and our Carnation Prize in it. We hope to ultimately arrive at a budget of four hundred thousand euros. This time we will pay the crew and the actors, although it is less than they normally ask. I do this unpaid, in addition to my full-time job in information technology. I just think this is extremely important. We are our own region with our own stories and a lot of talent. But that all goes away. I watch it with sorrow. The North is a beautiful film region.”