5 Questions With Hanna van Niekerk ("A Remark You Made")
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I grew up in Bolivia and got to experience Latin American Cinema up close from a very young age. Films like 'Diarios de Motocicleta' and 'Central do Brasil' made a huge impact on me. The raw, but also deeply poetic way in which director Walter Salles straddles the borders between documentary and fiction fascinated me deeply and was the reason why I got hooked on filmmaking myself.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
Actor Tarikh Janssen, DP Jean Counet, and I have known each other for years and share a strong love for improvisational acting and approaching film in a very sober, non-hierarchical way. We had been having several conversations about the murder of George Floyd in the U.S. and how this reignited the debate on racism in Dutch society. We felt a strong urge to create a short film about this, in which we would recreate some of our own conversations we had with our friends and colleagues. Since we were working with a delicate subject matter, we wanted to keep our cast and crew as small and intimate as possible, with a lot of freedom for the actors to give input and improvise their dialogues.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?
The lead characters are played by Tarikh and his real-life girlfriend, the very talented Lonneke Bakker. For them to allow a camera so close to their relationship and displaying this level of vulnerability, was definitely a challenge. But interestingly enough, it also was the easiest part; since these two had chemistry and authenticity about them that is very hard to cast. The same goes for Tarikh's mother Helen Martina, who has never acted before but blew us away with her creativity and wit.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
I recently watched a beautifully crafted short by director Edson da Conceicao titled 'Laatste Rit', in which a cab driver named Oussama has an encounter with a woman called Joyce, while they drive through the city of Rotterdam. The quiet performance by actor Walid Benmbarek moved me to tears.
5) What’s next for you?
I'm currently finishing the screenplay of my second feature titled ‘Anthill’, a science fiction produced by Hazazah Pictures. And I would love to make many more films together with Tarikh and Jean, since I find making films with your friends to be the best experience of all.
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