In late 2019, at the age of 22, Arie takes his own life. No one saw it coming, not even his younger brother Gijs and his parents. It is the start of an unreal and confusing period for the family, as they try to understand what drove Arie to his death. Did they fail to notice any signs? How could there be a side to Arie they had no idea existed? And why didn’t he confide his dark thoughts in them? Pulling himself up from the depths of grief, together with his parents Gijs discovers more and more about his brother’s mental state and the oppressive feelings he had been struggling with for some time. This film offers an extremely intimate insight into the lives of the family he left behind as, filled with confusion and sorrow but also with humour and hope, they go through the mourning process and try to rebuild their lives.
Proud of the entire film crew of ‘My Big Brother‘! On Friday evening, director Mercedes Stalenhoef received the Golden Calf for Best Long Documentary. Immense admiration goes to the Van der Pijl family, who opened up to this film during a period of intense......
Festive news for Zeppers! Two of our films have been nominated for a Golden Calf in the category ‘Best Feature Documentary’. The Dmitriev Affair by director Jessica Gorter and My Big Brother by director Mercedes Stalenhoef are competing for the coveted award. The Netherlands Film......
Mercedes Stalenhoef
Mercedes Stalenhoef (1966) studied art history at the Leiden University. Now, she works as a documentary filmmaker. Her film Ik wil nooit beroemd worden (2006) was granted a Gouden Kalf for the special jury price.
Director and scenario Mercedes Stalenhoef
Camera Niels van Koevorden en Roel van ‘t Hoff
Sound Tim van Peppen
Editor Gys Zevenbergen
Commissioning Editor EOdocs Margit Balogh
Line producer Elize Kerseboom
Producer Frank van den Engel
MY BIG BROTHER is a co-production with EO and is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, De Netherlands Film Production Incentive, CoBO, the NPO-fonds, and the Abraham Tuschinski fund.
