A personal documentary by Denise Janzee, made in an attempt to get closer to her mother Willeke van Ammelrooy. On movie sets and on screen, Denise saw her mother cry, laugh and fight. At home, however, Willeke shut herself off when she was sad. “I’ll only come back out once I’m smiling again. Such is my way,” she used to say.
The only time Denise really saw her cry was at the funeral of her father Leendert Janzee. He committed suicide when Denise was six years old. His decision to do so wasn’t unexpected, but his death nevertheless meant the ultimate loss for Willeke. She had wanted to let him live through her love. She feels defeated and locks herself in until she is ready to face the world again. Meanwhile she expresses herself through her characters. In this compelling film mother and daughter look back on this deciding and emotional period in their lives, illustrated by home movies.
Willeke is now happy with Marco Bakker. She lives partially in France and does her shopping in an old blue Citroën 2CV. It is a sharp contrast with her luxurious private trailer on an American movie set. Willeke refuses to let her happiness depend on her film roles, but an impressive amount of Dutch and international film material shows she is a true actress who masters her trade. Willeke lives for the camera, like Alice in Wonderland.
DVD
Regisseur
Denise Janzée
Denise Janzée (1966) studeerde af aan de Nederlandse filmacademie in de richting regie documentaire en montage.
Haar eindexamenfilm Schadembaab, een film over haar vader beeldend kunstenaar Leendert Janzee die zelfmoord pleegde toen zij 6 was, werd met veel lof ontvangen. Daarna heeft zij veel succesvolle documentaires en speelfilms gemonteerd waaronder de op vele festivals bekroonde films “De stand van de maan” en “De Stand van de zon” van Leonard Retel Helmrich.
Nu komt zij zelf met een nieuwe film over haar moeder, de internationale bekende actrice
Willeke van Ammelrooy, vooral bekend van de Oscar winnende film “Antonia” van Marleen Gorris , “The Lake house” van Alegandro Agresti en de film “Bride Flight” van Ben Sombogaard.
Credits
Director: Denise Janzee
Camera: Sander Snoep.
Sound: Harold Jalving.
Production: Willemijn Cerutti
In co-production with NTR.
With the support from Thuiskopiefonds.