Jos Stelling was born on 16 July 1945 in Utrecht, as the son of a pastry
cook who had eight children already. He got his artistic blood from his
mother, who comes from a musically gifted family. For his seventh birthday
Stelling got a projector with which he held viewings for children in the
neighborhood. But he developed his great passion for film between the age
of nine and seventeen when he attended Catholic boarding schools. His main
influence at the time was a priest who showed classic films every Sunday
and gave enthusiastic interpretations.
After boarding school Stelling spent all of his spare time filming. He had
bought an 8-millimetre camera and used it to shoot ‘Tim Lynch’, a film about
a lonely boy in Utrecht. He spent ten years experimenting and teaching himself
the profession before debuting officially in 1974 with Mariken van Nieumeghen,
based on the well-known medieval miracle play. The film was selected for the
Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. No Dutch film was rewarded
with this honour since. With this film, Stelling's cinematographic position was
set worldwide.
Not only is Jos Stelling a filmmaker, he is also the owner of Springhaver (1978),
a film theatre with a restaurant and café. And in 2004 he opened his Louis
Hartlooper Complex, an award winning renovation of a former police station into
a cultural centre for film and visual art.
Being the entrepreneur that he is, he started the Dutch Film Days in 1981,
meant as a pleasant gathering of the Dutch film world. He was chairman and
director until 1991. Later the festival was renamed Nederlands Film Festival
(Dutch Film Festival) en has by now developed into a large national festival.
Jos Stelling is married, father of four children, and is a grandfather.
Films
Mariken van Nieumeghen (1974)
The film is an exuberant representation of the 16th miracle play about
a young woman, Mariken, Like many from that era it is a very religious story
about sin (a simple farmers girl that lives with the devil), punishment and
forgiveness (thanks to the virgin Mary).
At the end of the middle ages the plague is spreading in Europe. Suspect of
this epidemic is the devil, represented by the comedian Moenen. Moenen.
Mariken is sent by her uncle to the farmers market in Niemeghen. Here she
meets Moenen and becomes his companion. Seven years later he vanishes from her
life as sudden as he appeared en Mariken gets sentenced to death for her
relationship with him. Determined to survive she escapes and travels along
with a group of actors.
Awards
Selected for the Official Competition,
Festival of Cannes, 1975
Elckerlyc (1975)
A story about a man and his journey, but at the same
time about the escape from death, that turns into a quest.
The film uses as lot of symbolism and archetypical characters
such as 'the fool', 'the girl' and 'the artist' (the creator).
After a light and simple start the film escalates and eventually
literally transforms into a caricature: Elckerlyc (Everyman) with
a donkey as a load on his shoulders.
Rembrandt fecit 1669 (1977)
The title refers to the starting point of the film: Rembrandts
last self portraits. The film is a portrait of the life of the
great painter, sketcher and etcher is portrayed, but the focus is
on the world he lives in and his 'looking at'. This film is made
out of love and admiration for the Dutch master.
Awards
Best Feature, Festival Asolo, 1978
Best Feature, Film Festival Orleans (France), 1981
The Pretenders (1981)
This story deals with unimportant events in the weekend of
August 4 and 5, when the news had come out that Marilyn Monroe had died.
One of the guys had moved to another city with his mother a year earlier
and returns as a real swaggerer. In actual fact though, he’s searching
for the comfort of the cafeteria and of his old friends to drive away his
loneliness.
The film was shot in an old neighborhood in Utrecht: het Verdomhoekje,
a neighborhood that got completely torn down not long after the shooting.
The Illusionist (1984)
In the Illusionist fiction, reality, dream and illusion effortlessly
blend together. Everything happens in the imagination of a figure who
looks around the corner of a (theatre) dressing room in the beginning
of the film. It is the story of two brothers, one of whom pursues his
ambitions, while the other is sent to a mental institution by their
parents. Lost childhood, failed ambitions, the threat of brain surgery,
an unremitting mother, a suicidal father and a rich grandfather define
the course of action. The film has no dialogue. Jos Stelling and Freek
de Jonge wrote the scenario with Freek's theatre production 'De Tragiek'
as a starting point.
Awards
Dutch Film Critics Prize, Dutch Film Festival, 1984
Golden Calf Best Long Feature, Dutch Film Festival, 1984
Golden Calf Best Actor, Gerard Thoolen, Dutch Film Festival, 1984
Audience Award, São Paolo International Film Festival (Brazil), 1985
The Pointsman (1986)
For the first time Jos Stelling used a book as a starting point for
a new film: De Wisselwachter by Jean-Paul Franssens. The story is about
a man who lives at a desolate train station, far away from the big city
and who has little to do besides keeping an eye on the points and who is
sometimes visited by the postman. Then a woman, accidently, gets of the
train. She spends a whole year on the pointsman’s lonely island of life,
which leads to all kinds of strange developments.
Awards
Golden Calf Jury Award, Dutch Film Festival, 1986
Golden Calf Best Actor, John Kraaykamp, Dutch Film Festival, 1986
Audience Award at the Film Festival Fantasporto, 1988
Best Actor, Jim van der Woude, Film Festival Fantasporto, 1988
Silver Raven, Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film
Audience Award, São Paulo International Film Festival (Brazil), 1986
Mention of Honour, International Film Festival Venice, 1986
Silver Desk Best Music Score, Michel Mulder, 1987
Special Jury Award, VIII Festival Madrid, 1987
The Flying Dutchman (1995)
The Flying Dutchman is an epic tale in three chapters about the
search of a serf for his alleged father: the Flying Dutchman. The
original and fairy tale like story is an ode to fantasy and imagination
and is set in the times of the Dutch Revolt (16th and 17th century) in
Flanders and the Netherlands, in which iconoclasts, the Spanish inquisition
and Dutch rebels all play a part.
Awards
Nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, 1995
Silver Frog Camerimage (Poland), 1996
Mentioned one of the best 100 films of the 20th century in the
renowned book: Making Pictures: A Century of European Cinematography,
created by IMAGO, the Federation of European Cinematographers.
Nomination Best Film, International Fantasy Film Festival
Fantasporto, 1995
No Trains No Planes (1999)
Back in the present-day, Stelling chose a second book by Jean-Paul
Franssens, Broederweelde, for a loose adaptation. The subject is a man,
Gerard, who goes to his regular pub to bid the other patrons farewell.
Gerard goes completely unnoticed by the rest of the company, and one sad
event follows the next. The emotional low is his rejection by the beautiful
Paula, who chooses a German gangster. The sad man only gets attention
when he brags about his brother Mario Russo, a popular singer, with whom
he is at odds however. This becomes apparent when Mario Russo unexpectedly
drops by in the pub.
Awards
Golden Gryphon, Film Festival St Petersburg, 1999
Nomination Kieslowski Award, Denver Film Festival, 1999
Nomination Best Scenario & Best Actor, Dutch Film Festival, 1999
Silver Cup, Dutch Film Festival (Japan), 1999
