Eddy’s War (2024)

For four seasons, Eddy van Wessel travels along the Ukrainian frontlines. As the most acclaimed Dutch war photographer for three decades now, he still seeks to capture the ultimate image – one that encapsulates the entire conflict, making all the struggles, traumas, and setbacks he has endured worthwhile. Filmmaker Joost van der Valk (known for “Satudarah – One Blood”) shadows him, documenting how Van Wessel experiences and captures the war through encounters and interactions with Ukrainians. However, on the other side of the lens, one is not immune to the war’s suffering. How does one function as a photographer in the surreal reality of war?

 

Length: 102‘

 

From February 29th onwards, “Eddy’s Oorlog” will be screened in the theaters listed below, often accompanied by a Q&A session with director Joost van der Valk and/or Eddy van Wessel.

February 29, 05:00 PM – Het Ketelhuis

February 28, 07:00 PM– De Balie

March 4, 08:00 PM – Natlab

March 7, 07:00 PM –  Lantarenvenster

March 10, 03:00 PM – Gigant

March 11, 08:25 PM – Filmhuis Bussum

March 12, 07:45 PM – Filmtheater Hilversum

March 12, 07:10 PM – Chasse

March 16, 03:20 PM – Koning van Engeland

March 18, 07:00 PM – Forum Groningen

March 26, 07:00 PM – Focus

 

IN THE PRESS:

Modern Times Review

”Van der Valk introduces his audience to Eddy and his work gently compared to the gut-wrenching horror that the genre of war photography can show”.

News

  • This Thursday, March 28th, BNNVARA will broadcast ‘Eddy’s War‘ on NPO2 at 10:20 PM. You can watch it later on NPO Start or via 2Doc....

    29 March, 2024

  • Director Joost van der Valk received the Dutch Movies Matter Award at the Movies That Matter Festival. The jury said the film did “not only an important human issue”, but also “used a very strong narrative form, confronting two types of images, photos and films.......

    29 March, 2024

  • ‘Eddy’s War’ premieres on Thursday, February 29th In this impressive portrait, filmmaker, Emmy Award and BAFTA winner Joost van der Valk follows war photographer Eddy van Wessel (four-time winner of the Silver Camera award) during his coverage of the war in Ukraine, often near the......

    25 March, 2024

  • Photographer Eddy van Wessel wins the Zilveren Camera prize for the fourth time! Director Joost van der Valk is making a documentaryfilm about Eddy and his work. Over the period of four seasons, he follows Eddy to the frontlines of Ukraine.  ...

    16 February, 2023

Director

Joost van der Valk

 

Joost van der Valk is the only Dutch documentary filmmaker to have won both an EMMY and a British Academy Award (BAFTA) for his work. In addition, he has been nominated for a Golden Calf, the IDFA DocU Award and twice for both the Prix d’Europa and the Royal Television Award (RTS). He also won the Amnesty International Documentary Award, the One World Award and the Rory Peck Sony Award for his camera work, among many other awards and honors. Van der Valk makes films in the Netherlands, including the Teledoc Satudarah – One Blood, one of the best-watched documentaries in Dutch television history, but also works extensively internationally for channels such as BBC, Al Jazeera, National Geographic and HBO. In recent years, he has worked as director on series such as Narcowars for Disney+, Make or Break for Apple TV+ and Drug Lords, Dope, Drive to Survive and Captains for Netflix. Van der Valk also made numerous films about gangs and criminal networks and regularly spent extended periods of time in conflict zones such as Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Indian Kashmir and the Brazilian favelas for his work.

 

 

Curious about more work from Joost?

Check out his website.

EDDY’S WAR  is a co-production with BNNVARA and is produced in context of TELEDOC.