This documentary tells the history of Ajax through a few important highlights: the first years of the club, the first championships, the commercialization of football to all great international successes.
Director
John Appel
John Appel has worked as a professional cameraman/director since ‘87. As an independent filmmaker he directed more than 35 documentaries for cinema and television. Johnny Meijer (1993), a portrait of a Dutch world famous accordeon virtuoso, was his first film for cinema.
In 1999 he won the IDFA Joris Ivens Award for Best Feature Length Documentary for the film André Hazes -She believes in me. This film about Holland’s most popular singer is the most successful documentary in Dutch cinema released in 50 years.
His film The Last Victory (2003), about the Palio, the famous horse race in Siena (Italy), won many awards and was nominated for Best European Documentary 2004. In 2009 he won the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Documentary for his film The Player, also nominated for IDFA Award for Best Feature Length Documentary 2009. This personal film, based on memories to his gambling father, was awarded the yearly Filmfund Award for Artistic Succes 2010 and other international awards.
Credits
This film was made under the assignment of Amsterdam based Dutch footballclub Ajax ter gelegenheid van it’s 100 th. anniversary. Camera: Bernd Wouthuizen, Geluid: Martijn van Halen, Productie: Willemijn Cerutti.