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FESTIVALS Netherlands

Netherlands Film Festival taking shape

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The local showcase of Dutch films, the Netherlands Film Festival, will celebrate its 31st edition this year. The festival will begin in Utrecht on September 21 with the premiere of André van Duren’s De Bende van Oss.

De Bende van Oss (The Gang from Oss) is a period crime drama inspired by real events. Based in the southern city of Oss, the gang, led by the violent Wim de Kuiper (Marcel Musters), was involved in prostitution, swindle and even murder during the 1930s.

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The focus of the story is Johanna van Heesch (Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks), who becomes associated with the gang via her husband (Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, Bullhead [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bart Van Langendonck
interview: Michaël R. Roskam
film profile
]
).

The film was produced by Matthijs van Heijningen and Guurtje Buddenberg for Sigma Pictures, with backing from the Netherlands Film Fund, Suppletieregeling, CoBO Fonds, Rotterdam Media Fonds, NTR and Entertainment One Benelux, who will release the film locally on September 29.

Another film that will premiere at the festival is Isabella, a Dutch-Luxembourg co-production directed by veteran filmmaker Ben Sombogaart (Bride Flight [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Sombogaart
interview: Hanneke Niens
film profile
]
, The Storm [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
). This is the director’s second adaptation of a novel by Tessa de Loo, after his Oscar-nominated Twin Sisters from 2002.

Isabella tells the story of a beautiful Dutch actress (Halina Reijn) who is kidnapped when on holiday in Belgium by a very ugly woman (Belgian actress Tineke Caels). The screenplay was adapted by frequent Sombogaart collaborator Marieke van der Pol.

The film will premiere in Utrecht on September 22 and will be released simultaneously in Dutch cinemas through A-Film. It was produced by Frans van Gestel, who is the Guest of the Year at the festival, as well as Anton Smit and Arnold Heslenfeld for IDTV, in co-production with broadcaster NCRV and Luxembourg’s Samsa Film.

The Netherlands Film Festival runs from September 21-30. The Holland Film Meeting, for international industry professionals, runs alongside the festival, September 22-26.

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