Heddy Honigmann Retrospective
Good Husband, Dear Son Goede man, lieve zoon Heddy Honigmann
The village of Ahatovici is located in the hills near Sarajevo. During the war in Yugoslavia, when the village fell into Serbian hands, the face of Ahatovici changed completely. Practically all of the men were captured and brutally murdered, and the village was burnt to the ground. Only the women and children were spared. Good Husband, Dear Son tells the story behind this forgotten genocide. The murdered men are commemorated in the stories of their wives, mothers and daughters, and through the few photographs and personal belongings that remain of them. Each object carries a memory, but the fact that someone was a good husband cannot be seen from a photograph. It clearly appears though from the way his wife, talking about him, caresses the picture and presses it against her chest. In this thick layer of grief, the film looks for the beauty of the memory and of love.
The Netherlands, 2001 video, color, 50 min Director: Heddy Honigmann Cinematography: John Appel Screenplay: Heddy Honigmann, Ester Gould, Emir Dzino Editing: Patrick Minks Sound: Piotr van Dijk Production: John Appel for VOF Appel & Honigmann Co-Production: IKON Screening Copy: VOF Appel & Honigmann
Goodbye
Tot ziens Heddy Honigmann
The Netherlands, 1995 35mm, color, 110 min Director: Heddy Honigmann Cinematography: Stef Tijdink Editing: Sander Vos Music: Wouter van Bemmel Production: Suzanne van Voorst for Ariel Film Production Screening Copy: EYE Film Instituut Nederland
Awards: Dutch Film Critics Award Netherlands Film Festival
When the happily married Jan and a young teacher named Laura meet for the first time at a skating rink in Amsterdam, no words are needed to convey what is going on between the two of them. They feel an unmistakable, acute, inescapable attraction that leads to an overwhelming, impossible affair. Time and again the couple tries to reason their way out and separate, but they don’t succeed. They experience euphoric highs, but above all many desperate lows within the relationship, causing detriment for all involved. This fiction film dissects the situation in an almost documentary fashion, in scenes that reveal all the painful details that are symptomatic of an extramarital affair. The secret telephone calls and the lies, the discussions that tail off when questions aren’t answered satisfactorily, the untamable passion that goes hand-in-hand with despair, the guilt and the rage. The strong physical acting by both leads stands out in this film, for which actress Johanna ter Steege won an award at the Locarno Film Festival. Director Heddy Honigmann was awarded the Dutch Film Critics’ Award at the Netherlands Film Festival and Goodbye was a hit in Dutch cinemas.
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