27/08/2015 - Starring Michael Bloos, Vera Ketelaars and Anne Gehring, 12 Months in 1 Day is the project with which Schaap graduated from the Master’s Degree programme at the Netherlands Film Academy

After a premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam last January and a screening at the Jeonju Film Festival in May, 12 Months in 1 Day [+see also:
trailer
film profile] hits Dutch screens this week. Written by Johan Sonnenschein and by director Margot Schaap, 12 Months in 1 Day is an intriguing story linking three friends (Misha, Seb and Yvonne). The trio leaves a New Year’s Eve party in Amsterdam and starts walking. Without knowing where they are heading, they wander through the streets, parks and bars of the city. The further they drift away from their natural habitat, the more their idea of time begins to change. As they attempt to cope with the loss of Twan (Misha’s brother, Seb’s childhood pal and Yvonne’s first love, who died the year before), the three friends end up distorting time: while they experience their continuous walk lasting only 24 hours, in fact an entire year passes by.

Starring Michael Bloos, Vera Ketelaars and Anne Gehring, 12 Months in 1 Day is the project with which Schaap graduated from the Master’s Degree programme at the Netherlands Film Academy. While searching for a new way of making films, she came up with a strong concept: she would shoot a film throughout one entire year, with one day of filming every month, irrespective of the conditions. This strictness resulted in a great deal of freedom: between shooting days, work could be done on developing the story and the characters, and if an actor was unavailable, improvisation would take place on the spot.

After local theatrical distribution, 12 Months in 1 Day is scheduled to screen at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (Germany) in October.

Also hitting Dutch screens this week is Carnotstraat 17, a documentary by Klara Van Es about an old and fashionable Antwerp film theatre that has now been transformed into a building that hosts immigrants from all over the world. Carnotstraat 17 was produced by Associate Directors (Belgium) in co-production with Memphis Film & Television (the Netherlands), Canvas (Belgium) and Human (the Netherlands). Cinema Delicatessen is handling the Dutch distribution.