Skip to content

Leo Bankersen

Leo Bankersen has been writing about film since Chinatown and Night of the Living Dead. Reviewed as a freelance film journalist for the GPD for a long time. Is now, among other things, one of the regular contributors to De Filmkrant. Likes to break a lance for children's films, documentaries and films from non-Western countries. Other specialities: digital issues and film education.

All the feature films of Theo van Gogh (1957 - 2004) at EYE, tribute to a free spirit with a big heart

"Theo van Gogh tried so hard to be an enfant terrible that we almost forgot that he was one of the Netherlands' most creative and productive filmmakers." I wrote this for the GPD papers on 2 November 2004, after an editor called me with the terrible news of the filmmaker's violent death. Soon, that murder was exactly ten... 

2600 visitors for Supernova, couldn't be better? A tough issue in 7 scenes

Scene 1 - Expectations The main hall of film theatre 't Hoogt was filled with people from the film sector on Wednesday afternoon at the invitation of the Film Fund. The subject of the meeting is the chronically low attendance of more artistic Dutch films. This has been the case for a long time, by the way, and not only in the Netherlands. Should new avenues be explored? Should expectations be... 

NFF 2014 - Who are we missing from the nominations for the Golden Calf?

With five nominations, Michiel ten Horn's comedy Aanmodderfakker has the most chances of winning Golden Calfs. Including those for best film, director and screenplay. Hot on the heels of

Nena and Heaven on Earth (both 4 nominations).

Ten Horn previously made a striking appearance with The Deflowering of Eva van End, so if Friday proves that he should definitely be listed as an up-and-coming new talent, he is warmly welcomed.

Nice would also be if Abbey Hoe...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

'Art only exists if it is written about.'

At the presentation at the Netherlands Film Festival of the Louis Hartlooper Prize for Film Journalism, not a Golden Calf will be handed over, but a Black Mirror. In ancient times tool for viewing, now token of appreciation for a contribution to written film culture.

Members of various film trade associations will designate the winner. Some believe there is no such thing,

let filmmakers decide who writes best about film. It was even suggested that one day it will turn out that the al...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Robin Williams, loved yet misunderstood

Beloved American actor Robin Williams certainly was. This is evident from the copious reactions following his unexpected death. Extra tragic that it is believed to be suicide, having struggled with depression and drink and drug problems. But it is also wry that the much-loved Williams has not had the chance to shine in a memorable leading role since 2002.... 

Struggling River of Fundament - grandiose recycling opera that doesn't know when to stop

From 2007, video artist Matthew Barney (The Cremaster Cycle) and composer Jonathan Bepler on a free adaptation of Norman Mailer's most maligned book Ancient Evenings. To Mailer's mythology of ancient Egypt, they added the equally mythical American automobile industry in an ambitious and operatesque film project with a demanding length of 5 hours 11 minutes.

From February River of Fundament on world tour and the Holland Festival

78 M€ download damage and 6 more things I learned about copyright

78 Million euros is the turnover lost by the film and DVD industry in the Netherlands due to illegal downloading. This was recently announced in a press release. Yesterday, it was also one of the topics at a discussion afternoon organised by Film Producers Netherlands (FPN) on copyright developments.

Once upon a time, in the book age, everything was simple. Now, in the image and internet world, everyone is mad at each other, says copyright expert Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm. An ini...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

4 faces of Abel Gance, creator of Napoleon

The Holland Festival presents Abel Gance's restored film epic on Sunday Napoleon, with live orchestra. A rare event, for the first time in this form on mainland Europe. In 1927, Gance had performed with Napoleon delivered a groundbreaking and monumental piece of work that made unusual demands on the projection (three canvases) and went out into the world in a variety of severely shortened versions after the first performances.

Napoleon at Ziggo Dome promises to be spectacular, but who was That ambitious loner Abel Gance?

'Are all priests gay?" and six more questions to the director of In The Name Of

This week in cinemas: In the Name of, an old-fashioned solid Polish drama about a priest who tries in vain to escape his homosexuality through celibacy. He works in a village in the province with difficult-to-educate teenagers. "I would like to fuck all those boys," he exclaims
in a moment of despair. At its premiere last year in Berlin, filmmaker Malgoska Szumowska (Elles) told more about it.
Why this story?
"Four years ago, I came across a newspaper ber...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

More films in cinemas due to digitalisation, says survey

The digital canvass battle in cinema is still some time away. For now, moviegoers are benefiting, according to research.
About two years ago, the digitisation of the Dutch cinema business was completed. All cinemas and film houses have been projecting digitally since 2012. In the projection booth, the disappearance of 35mm equipment meant a landslide.
For the public, it went so gritty that we hardly dwell on it now.
Fortunately, there is the Stichtin...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Woman, man, film - does Cannes have something to make up for?

Tonight, the 67th edition of the Cannes Film Festival opens with Grace of Monaco, a biopic with a major lead role for Nicole Kidman. Jury president of the world's most important film event is New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion. Three of the other six jury members are also women. Does Cannes have something to make up for?

There was some fuss in 2012 when the feminist group La Barbe denounced the fact that all the films in that year's main competition appeared to have been made by men....

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Sex and populism in the seventies. How Denmark lost its innocence.

Film tip for this week: Spies & Glistrup, a Danish shrill comedy with a dark edge about the heyday of an illustrious anarchist duo from the 1970s. Even for the broad-minded Denmark of the time, they were extreme. According to director Christoffer Boe, they left a lasting mark on Danish society.

Because yes, the good Danes had not experienced anything like this before. Simon Spies, made stone-faced with a holiday travel empire and always surrounded by beautiful May...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

World premiere in Berlin of Dutch 3D experiment Above Us All by Eugenie Jansen

Contrary to what some expected a few years ago, 3D in artistic film is still a rarity. So when something pops up in this corner again, it immediately makes one curious. And I don't mean Cathedrals of Culture, the 3D film project by Wim Wenders and five other filmmakers starring buildings. That Wenders is a 3D believer we already knew.

I mean that other 3D premiere at the Berlin festival: Above Us All by Dutch Eugenie Jansen....

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Nymphomaniac Vol. I in Berlin: half an hour longer, still the same film, still just as good

Lars von Trier is present at the Berlinale, wearing a T-shirt with the Cannes logo and the text 'persona non grata'. This refers to the riot at Cannes after his failed joke about Hitler. Since then, he has said nothing to the press. So we see on the monitor in the press room on Sunday afternoon

64th Berlin Film Festival opens with Wes Anderson's eccentric tragicomedy Grand Budapest Hotel

Imagine an old-fashioned sophisticated comedy, but filmed with modern speed, in the colourful and baroque style of a richly detailed comic strip full of plots and escapes, rounded off with a perfume of melancholy. That's when you come close to The Grand Budapest Hotel, the new film by Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr Fox, Moonrise Kingdom) The Berlin Film Festival (6 - 16 February) thus secured an opening with a festive yet unconventi...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

43rd Rotterdam Film Festival celebrates 25 years of Hubert Bals Fund with opening film Qissa

9,000 euros was the amount with which Indian director Anup Singh's Qissa got off the ground a decade ago. That money came from the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) affiliated Hubert Bals Fund (HBF), which has been supporting filmmakers in developing countries for 25 years now. Last night, Qissa opened the 43rd edition of the Rotterdam festival. This makes the port city the world capital for independent film for ten days, as business director Janneke Starink said at the ...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Cinema attendance growth stagnates, Verliefd op Ibiza Dutch frontrunner

Christmas saved the 2013 cinema year. While it seemed to be nothing at the beginning of December in terms of cinema attendance, the last three weeks of the year made up for a lot - courtesy of Hobbit 2.

2013 closed with 30.8 million visitors, Wilco Wolfers, president of the Dutch Cinematography Federation announced at the cinema industry's New Year meeting. Best-attended film was the US animated film Despicable Me 2, followed by The Hobbit 2 and the Dutch copl...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

La Grande Bellezza and Borgman best films 2013 according to Dutch film press

Members of the Dutch Circle of Film Journalists (KNF) and other film critics have named the Italian tragicomedy La Grande Bellezza as the best cinema film of 2013. According to the same critics, Alex van Warmerdam's Borgman is the best Dutch film of this year, the KNF announced.

Paolo Sorrentino's La Grande Bellezza received the most points after a record 91 Dutch critics cast a vote. The film, about a 60-year-old journalist looking for...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Marwan Kenzari Dutch Shooting Star in Berlin

We congratulate Marwan Kenzari! He has been selected as one of the Shooting Stars, the ten best young European actors to be showcased at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival.

With some luck, this annual showcase of new talent could be a stepping stone to an international career.

At the Netherlands Film Festival, Kenzari had already received a Golden Calf for his lead role in the raw drama Wolf. The Shooting Star jury attributed him a "magnetic screen presence".

Ee...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

IDFA 2013 opens with battle in Syria

A bit decadent it was last night. In a festive mood with glass in hand to the kick-off of the 26th edition of the documentary festival IDFA in Tuschinski, and then an hour and a half of watching the fortunes of a group of Syrian rebels in the completely destroyed city of Homs.

Talal Derki's Return to Homs, realised with support from the IDFA Bertha Fund, shows, in the form of unpolished direct cinema, a picture of the struggle as we see it - all media to sp...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Realistic-optimistic The Rocket wins double award at Cinekid

"Children are the best judges of what makes a good children's film," a member of the Cinekid children's jury spoke confidently. There may be room for improvement on that, but the fact is that at the awards ceremony on the festive closing night of the Cinekid festival, there was remarkable agreement with the adult jury.

Not only did both juries nominate the same film twice (The Rocket and Your Beauty is Worth Nothing), but they both chose The Rocket as the final wi...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Private Membership (month)
5 / Maand
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Own mastodon account
Access to our archives
Small Membership (month)
18 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of less than €250,000 per year
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
All our podcasts
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Posting press releases yourself
Extra attention in news coverage
Large Membership (month)
36 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of more than €250,000 per year.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Share press releases with our audience
Extra attention in news coverage
Premium Newsletter (substack)
5 trial subscriptions
All our podcasts

Payments are made via iDeal, Paypal, Credit Card, Bancontact or Direct Debit. If you prefer to pay manually, based on an invoice in advance, we charge a 10€ administration fee

*Only for annual membership or after 12 monthly payments

en_GBEnglish (UK)