12/01/2007

Dutch cinema did relatively well in 2006, thanks mostly to the return of Paul Verhoeven. His Black Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile] garnered almost 1m admissions, making it the third most seen film of the year.

Children’s films Crusade, Afblijven (lit. "Hands Off!") and Zoop in Afrika all attracted around 300,000 filmgoers. The market share for local films dropped from 13 to 11%, but output was also down: 29 titles were released in 2006, compared with 39 in 2005.

Three adult-oriented films will be released this spring, starting with the period romance Blind. Actress Tamar van den Dop’s directorial debut was produced by Phanta Vision with Belgium’s MMG and Bulgaria’s Klas.

In Blind, an albino (Shooting Star Halina Reijn) falls in love with a blind man (Joren Seldeslachts). When, through an operation, he can get his sight back, the woman doubts whether love can still be blind. Buena Vista will release Blind on February 8. Bavaria Film is handling international sales.

In March, two potential crowd-pleasers will be released: the drama Kicks, from the team behind Shouf Shouf Habibi!, the most successful local title of 2004, and Dennis P. by Pieter Kuijpers, who directs another true crime story after his successful Godforsaken.

Kicks reunites director Albert Ter Heerdt and star Mimoun Oaïssa for an urban tale of tragedy involving a police shootout that could ferment racial hatred. The film was produced by Parnassus Films with Hector and Fu Works and will be released by Independent Films on March 1.

Kuijpers’ Dennis P. is a tragicomic romance about a diamond factory employee (Edo Brunner) who steals €20m worth of diamonds to impress a prostitute (Nadja Hüpscher). The film was produced by Pupkin Film with Belgian company Another Dimension of an IDea. It will be released on March 15 in the Netherlands through RCV Entertainment and on April 25 in Belgium through KFD.