Articles


Lola Mooij - Finding Magic in Real Life

Amsterdam, 2024-01-23 - Judith Boeschoten and Nina da Costa

It’s a cold winter day when we arrive at Lola Mooij’s front door. She invites us in, pours us hot tea, and lights a few candles to make her already warm apartment extra cozy for us. She was reading The Secret Garden, a children's book written in 1911, about finding magic in the mundane. For the next two hours, Lola describes how she brings her own projects to life, inspiring her crew to pour in that extra touch of magic, whatever genre they’re working in.


2024 ROBBY MÜLLER AWARD goes to GRIMM VANDEKERCKHOVE

Amsterdam, 2023-12-12 - NSC / IFFR

The recipient of our fifth annual Robby Müller Award is Belgian cinematographer Grimm Vandekerckhove, renowned for his delicate, humanist work with filmmaker Bas Devos, amongst others.


Goert Giltay - Zen and the Art of Tightrope Walking

Amsterdam, 2023-11-29 - Gerlinda Heywegen

Goert Giltay, recently retired director of photography with a huge track record, likes to leave things up to others when his style is concerned. Every film was a new search. Sometimes his work had to be zen and a few times he got angry. But friendship was the core of his work, with ‘his’ heroes of cinema, the directors.


EURO CINE EXPO 2023 - MOTORWORLD, MUNICH

Amsterdam, 2023-07-05 - Miga Bär

Last year Munich and the German film industry were introduced to a new event called Euro Cine Expo. On June 30 and July 1 of this year the sophomore edition took place at Motorworld in Munich.


Lennert Hillege - Making Movies at Full Steam!

Amsterdam, 2023-06-08 - Gerlinda Heywegen

Director of Photography Lennert Hillege claims he does not have his own style. He is just as good or bad as the project he works on. He says he is always looking for the right wavelength to attune to in collaborations, whether that is with directors he has worked with for years or whether he works with new ones, such as Steve McQueen with whom he worked recently.


HBO CAS 2023

Amsterdam, 2023-06-21 - Ties Versteegh NSC

On Wednesday, June 14th, the NSC presented the exclusive HBO CAS 2023 showcased by Director of Photography:Suny Behar.


Piotr Kukla - No plans on retiring any time soon!

Den Haag, 2023-01-06 - Gerlinda Heywegen

Piotr Kukla will often use that word in this interview when he is talking about something or someone. A little afraid that he won’t be able to work in the Netherlands anymore because of his age, enthusiastic about his students at the Łódź Film School in Poland. Full of love for the directors he has worked with for years, and where storyboarding is sacred.


P I N A

Amsterdam, 2023-01-13 - Nina da Costa

In the run-up to the ceremony of the 4th edition of the Robby Müller Award, the NSC takes you on a journey along the films of winner cinematographer Hélène Louvart AFC.


Sander Snoep - Never in charge, always a guest

Amsterdam, 2022-09-02 - Gerlinda Heywegen

Sander Snoep has been a well-known player in the Dutch documentary scene for years and would never have expected to still be so passionate about his profession. He is still curious every single time he’s starting a project. How his films get made, in rain or shine, does not matter to him. As long as they come about.


Paul Özgür - In a hurry to make that one masterpiece

Amsterdam, 2022-02-25 - Gerlinda Heywegen

He’s aiming for a large audience. His work has to be seen by as many people as possible. He talks about balance, Dutch DP Paul Özgür. In style and story and also in his own portfolio. And then there are the rules.


Myrthe Mosterman - Finding Synergy

Amsterdam, 2021-11-15 - Gerlinda Heywegen

A Gouden Kalf Award (Dutch film award) for her first feature film; that is what happened to DP Myrthe Mosterman in October 2020. In a Zoom interview, she talks about her style and how she prefers to work. NSC manifest New Deal pops up once again in this interviews series and it seems inevitable to address ‘being a woman’ within this ‘male profession’. But so far, she does not yet have to use a nom de plume.


Jean Counet - A jazz musician’s travels

Amsterdam, 2021-06-01 - Gerlinda Heywegen

There were five films on the shortlist for discussion with DP Jean Counet. Two feature films and three documentaries. Although Counet studied Directing at St Lukas, Brussels, he prefers to be a cameraman. But the conversation via Zoom kicked off with his own work, due to the March 2020 lockdown.


Martijn van Broekhuizen - Gangs of London

Amsterdam, 2021-04-23 - Aart Verschuur

Martijn van Broekhuizen worked on the first season of Gangs of London and is currently shooting the second season. 


Richard van Oosterhout - Insight and Wonder

The Netherlands, 2021-02-10 - Gerlinda Heywegen

Netherlands Society of Cinematographers initiates a series of interviews. NSC chair Richard van Oosterhout starts. He talks about his work, a Dutch New Deal, creativity on set and about breaking with what you know.


2021 ROBBY MÜLLER AWARD goes to Kelly Reichardt

Rotterdam, 2020-12-22 - Bianca van Riemsdijk

Kelly Reichardt will receive the second annual Robby Müller Award. As part of the award, she will also receive a gallery print of one of Robby Müller’s Polaroids.


Sidik and The Panther

Amsterdam, 2020-11-17 - Freek Zonderland

SIDIK AND THE PANTHER is a film about a man called Sidik, wandering around in the mountains of Kurdistan looking for a sign of the Persian leopard. Directed by Reber Dosky and shot by Roy van Egmond. Selected for IDFA 2019 and Camerimage 2020, mominated for an IMAGE award.


Sisters

Amsterdam, 2020-05-05 - Freek Zonderland

ZUSSEN (SISTERS) is a short dance film by director Daphne Lucker and cinematographer Casper van Oort. It has screened and has won prices at festivals all over the world. In November it screened in the student competition at Camerimage and it won the IMAGO Student Award 2020. 


Onderhuids

Amsterdam, 2020-04-27 - Freek Zonderland

ONDERHUIDS (UNDER THE SKIN) from director Emma Branderhorst and cinematographer Michel Rosendaal screened at the Berlinale earlier this year. We spoke with Michel about this poetically shot twenty-minute short film. 


First ROBBY MÜLLER AWARD goes to Diego García

Rotterdam, 2019-10-30 - IFFR / NSC

The Robby Müller Award honours an ‘image maker’ who, in the spirit of the late Robby Müller, has created an authentic, credible and emotionally striking visual language throughout their oeuvre. The first award goes to Diego García and will be presented at the 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam.


The Circle of Film

Amsterdam, 2019-10-02 - Jean van de Velde

"Wil de Nederlandse filmcultuur overleven, dan zal de filmketen een filmketting moeten worden! Dan moet het einde van die keten (de filmexploitatie) aan het begin (de filmproductie) geklonken worden. Dan moeten de baten aan het einde de 'boost' voor een nieuw begin zijn."


Regisseurs naar de achterbank

Amsterdam, 2019-08-24 - Jos van der Burg & Karin Wolfs

“Doreen krijgt heel veel power.” Aldus waarnemend Filmfonds-directeur Ger Bouma tien jaar geleden over de benoeming van Doreen Boonekamp tot directeur. Anders dan haar voorgangers kreeg Boonekamp bij haar aantreden twee petten: ze werd zowel directeur als bestuurder van het Filmfonds.


New Deal NSC

Amsterdam, 2019-04-17 - NSC

Uit een NSC-enquête die in mei 2018 onder de leden is gehouden, was de belangrijkste conclusie dat het de DP’s frustreert dat ze hun werk niet optimaal kunnen uitvoeren. Daarom dit manifest met suggesties om het werkproces te veranderen.


Living the Light, at 75th Venice International Film Festival

Amsterdam, 2018-11-18 - Vincent Visser

Living the Light – Robby Müller, made by Claire Pijman NSC, will have its world premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival and is selected for the Venice Classics competition


Time Layers Come Together

Amsterdam, 2018-11-17 - Vincent Visser

'Paolo Ventura, Vanishing Man,’ shows how an Italian artist creates his own timeless melancholic world in a barn on an abandoned mountaintop in Italy. With paint, cardboard, and relics of a human life, he resonates his childhood’s memories and isolation by giving himself and found objects a new magical life.   


Frank van den Eeden about Waldstille

Amsterdam, - Vincent Visser

Dutch cinematographer Frank van den Eeden (May 14, 1971), resident of Antwerp is best known for his work with directors such as Fien Troch, Nanouk Leopold and Jan Verheyen. Besides many nominations he has won several awards for his work as cinematographer.  One of his later productions is ‘Waldstille’ from writer and director Martijn Maria Smits, a feature film that got its world-premiere during the San Sebastian Film Festival in 2016. The NSC talked with Frank about this film.


NSC Investigates Film Making Process in The Netherlands

Amsterdam, 2019-05-01 - NSC

The Netherlands Society of Cinematographers (NSC) conducted a survey among its members as a response to the Netherlands Film Production Incentive 2014-2017 evaluation.


The Cinematographer as Co-Author

Amsterdam, 2019-05-09 - Hans Beerekamp

While cleaning up his archive, film journalist Hans Beerekamp found several editions of the (small-scale published) Dutch film magazine Cineécri.


Emotional Shapes and Textures - Daniël Bouquet

Amsterdam, 2018-07-15 - Vincent Visser

Immediately after his graduation from the Dutch Film Academy in 2006, Daniël Bouquet made a flying start as Director of Photography. For his second feature length production “Nothing Personal” (2008) he won the Golden Calf award for best Cinematography during the Netherlands Film Festival in 2009. Nowadays he works mainly on a variety of international projects, amongst commercials for major brands like Adidas, Gillette and Vogue. The NSC talked with him about his career, interests and more.  


Beerified Scope

Amsterdam, 2018-11-16 - Vincent Visser

Joris Kerbosch (Culemborg, 1980) is best known for his work as cinematographer for directing duo Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil, for whom he shot the movies ‘New Kids Turbo’ (2010), ‘New Kids Nitro’ (2011) and ‘BROs BEFORE HOs’ (2013). ‘Ron Goossens, Low-Budget Stuntman,’ is their fourth feature film collaboration. Together those comedies where amongst the highest grossing films in The Netherlands and acclaimed international recognition. NSC spoke with cinematographer Joris Kerbosch about the film.


GHOST TROPIC

Amsterdam, 2024-01-17 - NSC

The winner of the fifth Robby Müller Award is the Belgian DOP GRIMM VANDEKERCKHOVE. He is known for the subtler way in which he captures the inner world of characters, such as that of a cleaning lady on a nighttime journey home in GHOST TROPIC (2019)

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Myrthe Mosterman - Finding Synergy


Amsterdam, 2021-11-15 - Gerlinda Heywegen

A Gouden Kalf Award (Dutch film award) for her first feature film; that is what happened to DP Myrthe Mosterman in October 2020. In a Zoom interview, she talks about her style and how she prefers to work. NSC manifest New Deal pops up once again in this interviews series and it seems inevitable to address ‘being a woman’ within this ‘male profession’. But so far, she does not yet have to use a nom de plume. Her relatively young career is gaining momentum fast now.

 

Goud-2

Goud


Mosterman studied Film Science at one point but had no real idea what she wanted to use it for. It had never entered her thoughts to do practical work in the film business. But she discovered that a vocational education - learning a profession - fit her much better.
“I do see a visual style in my own work,” Mosterman says when asked whether she is developing her own signature as DP. “But I also know this because in treatments my work is often described the same way by different directors. I really enjoy the process of finding the right visual means of expression. Each film demands its own style in the end. It does not necessarily have anything to do with my own taste and I do not always necessarily shoot the films that I would like to go to myself. I have done many comical shorts with a slightly absurd touch, whilst I myself actually prefer more naturalistic films.”
She refers to films like The Walking Fish (2019) and De dag dat mijn huis viel (2017) which she made with director Thessa Meijer. “Goud is closer to my own taste. But I value alternating between highly different projects. Working with Thessa always challenges me; she tries to innovate and I find that important. I think that Richard (van Oosterhout, GH) tries to touch upon that in the New Deal: the ‘ongoing search’.”


Myrthe Mosterman

How can we describe Mosterman’s visual style then? “It is often said that my light has a natural feel about it and that is likely because I use set locations as a prime motivation. I am quite averse to unmotivated light and unmotivated movements; I do love a well-balanced composition. I love shooting handheld, I prefer following the character and let myself be led by that rather than just placing them in a space and start filming. I find it hard to come up with a shot out of thin air. That is why I sometimes find studio work harder to do than documentary work.”
So, what was it like to work on a film like De dag dat mijn huis viel then? In this quite absurd and quietly funny film by Thessa Meijer three grown men - they are rather shabby - just hang out in and around a house that gradually starts to lean over more and more. And all that happens in the middle of nowhere whilst they are still under mother’s wings. Until she leaves. She’s had enough. Not only the house is askew, but the brothers are also as well.

The Walking Fish
The Walking Fish

The house was designed especially for the film and built on an empty plain. Mosterman: “I could decide where the windows should be, which way the house should face and how the light would fall, all beforehand. It is such a luxury that everything is possible, but at the same time, I freeze up a little when that is the case. Out of nowhere, you are faced with a thousand possibilities. I prefer improving on something to initiating something. I find it easier to work from restrictions. That is something I also noticed when shooting second camera on Waterboys (2016) by Robert-Jan Westdijk. I had to shoot an exterior shot and did it in countless ways because I had no idea what they wanted. I don’t think second camera is for me. I could not build on my feeling of continuity. And I need that to perform.”

Control
Mosterman worked with Urszula Antoniak on her latest film Splendid Isolation (2021) over the past year. A corona film that was written ultra-fast and probably shot even faster with the aid of Filmfonds (Dutch Film Fund) covid support. Mosterman speaks highly of Antoniak’s prowess and her approach. “Urszula does not like to prepare, as in doing a decoupage. But I do make a shadow shot list for myself and production. On the first day, she asked me where I wanted my actors, but I prefer to see the rehearsal first and then come up with how to film them. It resulted in an entirely different dynamic than I was used to and it greatly stimulated me to take control myself and work from my own vision. But at the same time, I found it quite hard.”
Mosterman is, just like in the entire interview, exceptionally honest about what she finds challenging in her work and that she still has things to learn, but she is also honest about what she knows for sure. “I need interaction and synergy with the director. I really like knowing what someone wants and being able to improve on that. But some directors say: ‘do whatever you like'. That is fine, but I prefer a clear opinion. And Urszula certainly has one. That activates me. It makes me think: ‘Now, we are going to start.’  Finding that synergy together is one of the most satisfying things about my work.”


Splendid Isolation

That brings the conversation once again to the New Deal, the NSC’s 2018 manifesto which states that DPs are sometimes in a better position to protect a film than directors because they already have enough on their plates. Mosterman agrees: “I can recognize it in my films when I have been unable to protect the style ostensibly. During a shoot, it is your responsibility as a DP to provide the editor with material that is as clear as possible. It can be really important to stand for and fight for something. That results in quality, visual language, authorship.
I have just finished a, to my standards, big-budget film (Zee van Tijd, Theu Boermans) and it immediately resulted in extra opinions, discussions, and many more concessions and that is detrimental to the quality. It is a fantastically beautiful script and it was great fun to shoot. Theu is a real actor’s director who says that he mainly wants to be able to see the actors well. I liked that, at times, but in hindsight, I see that, visually, I shot it too neatly. I think it could have been done better, but it is also hard to determine what is the cause of that. Still, it seems that the bigger a film gets, the more sluggish working on it becomes. Maybe it becomes too safe because the stakes are too high. If there are too many opinions, the film does not get a language of its own.”

Close to the skin
Mosterman made a short of her own once: Classical Comeback, on Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. With typical self-deprecation, she likes to brush it under the table. She made it with two friends and it was just ‘a weekend getaway with some additional filming’ but you can definitely recognize her signature in it: filming close to the skin. That often comes back in her work. Physical closeness. Huidhonger (Lieza Röben, 2019) shows that really well. In 2020, the film even got an entirely different meaning. The word ‘huidhonger’ was used a lot at the beginning of the corona period. We missed touching each other; we hungered for contact, for physicality. We are made to touch each other. In the documentary we see several people longing for touches, no matter how hard it sometimes could get for them for several reasons. So filming goosebumps, hairs on arms; making small things like that so visibly tangible was really important for the film. Jean Counet filmed one part of Röben’s film, Mosterman took care of the other part and did so meticulously. She says she prefers to work with the actors in a kind of dance – to let herself be led by their movements and actions. To be swept away. “I think that is the way I look at them; I prefer to huddle up close to them and have them take me along.”


Zee van Tijd

While shooting Thessa Meijer’s The Walking Fish there was no other option for Mosterman but to let herself be led by the actors’ body language. The film was shot in Japan, with Japanese actors. “Of course I knew roughly what was going to happen, but I could not understand a thing that was said so I had to watch closely. I find it very inspiring to shoot in other countries. We had quite a ‘documentary’ approach with a cast that consisted partly of unprofessional actors, existing locations, and few means.
Thessa’s style is hard to describe. Her stories tend to lean towards allegorical and teem with fairytale-like symbolism. On the one hand human and on the other hand caricatural. That also reflects on my camera work in De dag dat mijn huis viel. It encompasses two styles. On the one hand, there are humoristic tableau shots; on the other many tracking handheld shots as well. A mix between placing characters in their surroundings and showing the surroundings via the characters.
I admire Thessa for her ability to think outside set frameworks so well. It is really great to travel along in her head. I am quite down to earth and maybe a little ‘safer’. I sometimes think: ‘Shouldn’t she have a much crazier camera person on her side?’ But maybe our balance is really good. After all, The Walking Fish was a huge success. Maybe that is also since the film had Wildcard funding (Dutch Film fund) and was therefore totally free in its form and its length. And we didn’t have the restriction of a tight deadline.”
The New Deal addresses that as well and Mosterman confirms: “There are so many impediments, not just deadlines but time slots as well. You get a set number of shooting days, for editing, for color correction. Work is done from models. Even before the preparatory process has started, the number of days, the crew set-up, and budget have been determined. Example: with Urszula, we shot on 16 mm in the end; we both wanted to. And the producer (Family Affairs) was open to that. So, we looked into it together how we could manage that financially. In the end, we had 18 shooting days, lots of natural light, just a gaffer with best boy, and no exterior night scenes. Every department had to compromise. It is so important to be able to contribute to the way the budget is handled.
What happens a lot is that the production department tells you exactly how the grip budget is allocated, while we haven’t even discussed a shooting style yet. It is not just weird that it is communicated that way, but think the other way around: I can help and think of ways to save money. A day without lighting for instance, or less crew. I recently had an experience where almost the entire art department had been let go due to cutbacks. So I said that I would gladly do some cutbacks in my department because my images depend on art. If, for instance, a location is good of itself, I can work with it with very little means. It was considered weird that I stated that. After all, the cutbacks had not affected my department, right? But it is obviously not about individual departments, but about making a good film together.
When I started, I had no clue about costs whatsoever. Now I ask for the camera and lighting quotations to be forwarded to me, to gain insight into costs and agreements. That enables me to think along with the productional side of things.  
Another discussion is the number of shooting days. I shot an extra half-day for Urszula’s film. Just me and a camera assistant. I have a fixed fee anyway. We needed some extra nature shots that we definitely needed. It is nice to be able to take ample time for that and not have to fit it into a ‘real’ shooting day. The result is so much better. I have had numerous conversations like these with the production department and usually, it is not possible after all.”

Splendid Isolation - 2

Splendid Isolation

Woman
Almost 10 years ago, Mosterman shot Sletvrees (Sunny Bergman), a documentary that handles the subject of whether western women are as sexually liberated as people think. Sadly, it is still very much a current topic: “Sunny is such an unsurpassed frontrunner when it comes to current issues (Mosterman refers to #metoo but also BLM). I greatly admire her. We have been all over the world together.”
What is it like for a female DP to film women who tell you about how they are treated with sexism? “I talked to Sunny about this extensively, but I myself have never really struggled with me being a woman in a man’s world. But in the current climate, there is quite some focus on the fact that I am one of the very few female Dutch DPs and what that says about our society. Even though it doesn’t bother me greatly, I do get asked about it a lot and therefore I have to speak out about it. I have changed in that respect. I can sense that it is an important subject for our society. Whether it makes a difference that I am a woman; I guess it does because I am, after all, a woman. But that is just one factor. Everyone incorporates their own personality into their work. And that, more than anything, determines who asks for me and the reason they ask for me. I think I am often asked for ‘sensitive’ subjects. Or sometimes to bring more balance to a crew. In fact, it is oftentimes others that give me a certain label.

Sletvrees

Sletvrees

I have fantasized about what it would be like to work under a nom de plume, to see whether it would make a difference. I also notice that it is mainly women on set that sometimes have trouble with my tone because I can be quite direct. Maybe you could call that manly, but what is that exactly? I should not even get started on descriptions like that. I don’t think that camera work is a male profession, but the way the work is done, does require certain characteristics and that may be easier for men.
I found big and crowded sets hard in the beginning too. Lots of on-set yelling; everyone has an opinion. I really had to get used to that, but the sets get much quieter when there is more experience. I often have young female interns and each and every one of them prefers working in small sets with a tiny crew. I recognize that. The degree to which women are successful currently often depends on how well they can adapt to a man’s world. Should you change said world, work methods, the way things are handled? I have also adapted. I have learned a form. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done differently. Perhaps I should ask my crew whether they feel it is different with me than with a male DP.”
What she definitely also wants to share is this: “One of the first questions I got during my intake at the Filmacademie was ‘You are our first Bachelor who wants to go for Camera. Do you realize that you have to carry cables while walking through the mud at six a.m.?’ That really made me laugh. I get asked whether this is a tough profession every week. And you have to realize that I am quite big and strong. I guess I am thé camera person that has been asked to get a coffee most often on set, or where the sandwiches should go. Because people think I belong to the production department.”

Goud
Of course, the conversation cannot end without talking extensively about Goud which won Mosterman a Gouden Kalf Award. It is Rogier Hesp’s debut feature and yes, she must admit that some concessions had to be made. “It is quite a difficult story to tell, about a gymnast’s inner world. Despite it being a sports film, you have to get inside his head rather than look at his accomplishments. In the original script, he would perform on the horizontal bar. In the end, he performed in floor events. That was quite a big difference. For his horizontal bar exercises we had come up with shots we could use symbolically. Holding on, letting go, flying through the air, damaging the hands, etcetera. The floor exercise is much more about choreography.
During the de decoupage, we ran into some bumps in the script and it soon became clear: ‘we are in a bit of trouble – how did that happen?’ During editing, many scenes were cut and I think that might have been tackled at a very early preparatory stage, but due to lack of time, that wasn’t always an option.”


Goud

Goud was shot on cinemascope and that gives the film an imposing feel. Mosterman: “I love anamorphic lenses and I think that goes for Rogier as well. But we also went for that because the gymnast often moves horizontally through the space and it is about his relation to his environment: many different characters in the background in the gymnasium and big empty spaces for the loneliness he experiences at home. The choice to shoot the final competition at the end of the film with Steadicam was made at an early stage: “We actually wanted that scene to be a long take in slow motion. That way, connoisseurs would be able to see that it is really good what the gymnast does and the entire film builds up to the success or failure of this exercise. But in the end, that shot lasted way too long in the edit. A big shame, because it could have been really beautiful. And we only had two shots at that take because we were allowed to film in the gymnasium for a quarter of an hour during a break in the (real) European Championship. I found it hard because I could do nothing but watch; it was frustrating at times as well. But on the other hand, it was also beautiful to let go and just hope that the boy would finish his exercise successfully. Film and reality came really close together there.”


Goud


Interview: Gerlinda Heywegen
Vertaling: Sonja Barentsen