news

Rutger Hauer to receive Career Achievement Award

At this year's Imagine Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival Rutger Hauer will receive the festival's prestigious Career Achievement Award. Previous recepients have been Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Paul Verhoeven, Dario Argento and Wes Craven. At... Read more >

Special Edition Master class

This coming weekend Rutger Hauer will be the guest of honour at LUX in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Rutger will also be giving a condensed version of his master class, which will focus on how to direct actors. Participating talent includes, amongst others, Teun Kuilboer,... Read more >

Filmfactory participant Lucia Dondorp wins Golden Calf

At last year’s Filmfactory Lucia Dondorp was inspired by Rutger’s mantra of ‘you don’t need anything other than guts to make a film’ and the lesson paid off; after the masterclass Lucia went on to develop a short film of her own. That film, De maan is kapot (The Moon is Broken) was awarded the Golden Calf – the top award - at this year's Netherlands Film Festival. When... Read more >

And the winners are...

The third edition of I’ve Seen Films has come to an end. The organization of the Milano based festival received an “extremely successful response from the audience and the authors, who had their works screened in a masterful HD Digital Cinema quality.” The festival is founded by Rutger Hauer, who also handed out the awards personally to makers of short and feature... Read more >

Full Making Off online

Want to spent a full half an hour at the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory? To see what REALLY went on behind the scenes? The 25 participants were not the only ones who were filming this year's masterclass. They themselves are the stars of FLIP IT OUT, an exclusive documentary... Read more >

"And the first new participant is..."

Polish director Dorota Zglobicka, who participated in this year's Rutger Hauer Filmfactory won the Best Smart Short Film Award at the I've Seen Films-festival of Milano. Her short, Be Smarter, was produced earlier this year in Rotterdam as part of the programme. The... Read more >

Filmfactory shorts travel to Milano

Twenty of the short films conceived at this year's Rutger Hauer Filmfactory will have their international premiere at the I've Seen Films International Short Film Festival of Milano, Italy.The ten day celebration of short films from all over the world is founded by Rutger Hauer. This year's festival, with more than 100 premieres, will feature 231 works from 70 countries. I've... Read more >

Red carpet for Filmfactory Allumni

Last week the feature Motherland had its world premiere in Los Angeles. Writer-director Doris Yeung was one of last year's Filmfactory participants and mentor Rutger Hauer showed up on the red carpet to offer her some moral support on this special occasion. "An exceptional film", commented Rutger... Read more >

Dutch Premiere

Traditionally the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory is concluded with a red carpet premiere of all the shorts made during this edition. The event attracts a big and varied audience of collaborators, filmmakers and other film professionals. Also present was Roland Plasterk, Minister of Education, Culture and Science.... Read more >

The best student film is...

The participants of the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory were not the only ones shooting films this week. In fact it can be argued that the 30 Media & Entertainment-students from the INHOLLAND university of applied sciences had an even bigger challenge. They got the same scripts, but had only 1 day to turn them into a film.   Of... Read more >

Dinner and a show

The shooting has wrapped, so now the 5 teams are frantically editing their material. Just two more (sleepless) nights before they can show their movies to the world. In addition to the world premiere there wil lbe a public event on Monday the 29th at Kriterion Rotterdam.  Doors open at... Read more >

Dutch TV

Yesterday Rutger took two participating directors to the Hilversum studio of popular talk show De Zomer Draait Door, where they were interviewed on their experiences at the factory.... Read more >

Never tell an actor this...

Today some newly established actors were thrown into the mix, as they entered the filmfactory to participate in some acting/directing exercises. Whilst actors such as Monic Hendrickx and Yannick van de Velde brought some intense improv to the factory, and provided some magic moments, it turned out to be quite a challenge for their... Read more >

Following Rutger

The Rutger Hauer Filmfactory is always looking for new ways to spread the message. For this purpose Rutger is using Twitter for the very first time and his tweets are getting... Read more >

Sneak Preview

The biggest tragedy of life, according to Satre, is to have a choice. This is especially true for filmmaking, told Lech Majewski in today’s masterclass on directing. He... Read more >

El Skypiachi

Robert Rodriguez made his live appearance in Rotterdam thanks to Skype. From George Clooney’s Italian villa, the maverick filmmaker shared his ideas and feelings on filmmaking with the participants from the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory and students from INHOLLAND. Like Rutger,... Read more >

Extra actors coming to the factory

In the next few days the cast of the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory will be joined by some of the best actors Holland has to offer. They will star alongside our resident actors in the five short films that will be shot later this week. Three times Golden Calf-winner Monic Hendrickx almost doesn’t need an introduction and will continue her association with... Read more >

Kill Your Darlings (or have sex with them)

Susan Korda entranced the audience today with Kill your Darlings, her lecture on editing. If her two versions (one dramatically re-edited) of the short Climbing Miss Sophie was not an eye-opener enough, her statement that editing was like sex... Read more >

Get Shorty

The first shorts have arrived. Since their briefing on Friday the 5 teams of the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory have been losing sweat, blood and tears (and maybe sleep) over producing a short commercial for Smart in just less than two days.... Read more >

Maestroclass

Robert Bresson, Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni and Martin Scorsese were present at this morning’s cinematography lecture by Richard van Oosterhout, thanks to YouTube. Missed it? We’ve put Richards’ selection online for you! D.O.P Richard... Read more >

See 12 films for 5 euro

At the end of the production line of the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory there will be 12 exciting new short films, shot by an international team of young adventurous professionals.  Curious how they manage to overcome creative obstacles, logistic nightmares and other problems in just 10 days? See it for... Read more >

Smart start

This morning the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory kicked off with some general advice from Rutger and Lech (“You’re not here to prove that you are a filmmaker. You’re not here to prove that you have the talent to direct an Oscar-winning short. We KNOW that already.... Read more >

Follow Rutger on Twitter

Do you want to know what is going on behind the screens of the Rutger Hauer filmfactory? We've made it easy this year, because Rutger is keeping everybody posted on his twitter account. Follow... Read more >

Premiere for past participant

On the 18th of July the feature Motherland will have its premiere at OUTFEST 09, the 27th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Motherland was written, directed and produced by Doris Yeung, who participated in last year's Rutger Hauer Film Factory. Motherland marks Yeung's feature debut. In... Read more >

Golden Bear winner coaches in Rotterdam

Claudia Llosa, whose second feature La Teta Asusta (The Milk of Sorrow), won the Golden Bear earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival is coming to the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory to share her advice and secrets as directing coach.   Claudia Llosa was... Read more >

Participants line-up

We're counting down the days now until the start of the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory. The list of ambitious filmmakers attending the masterclass can be viewed here. What will be in store for them? Their extensive schedule can be... Read more >

Educational projects

With a unique masterclass for INHOLLAND students, a mini-masterclass for young children and a collaboration with Project Ithaka, the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory proves to be a creative and educational playground for filmmakers of every age. The... Read more >

Hurrah for Rotterdam

The Rutger Hauer Filmfactory boasts an impressive array of international talent - on both sides of the classroom.  More than 25 ambitious directors, actors, editors and other filmmakers will make 12 short films under the guidance of masters from every discipline. For 10 days Rotterdam will be the creative centre for... Read more >

Meeting of Minds

The diary of the 14th Dalai Lama is fully booked for three years in advance. That means that the chances of the spiritual leader to give a master class are less than zero. Still, when his Holiness came to The Netherlands last week for a... Read more >

Virtual master class

Top directors like Robert Rodriguez and Paul Verhoeven won't let their busy Hollywood schedules keep them from inspiring a new generation of filmmakers. Both will be teaching... Read more >

Your directing coach: Lech Majewski

The multi-talented Polish artist Lech Majewski will be coaching aspiring directors at this year's Rutger Hauer Filmfactory. Majewski is a... Read more >

The Next Generation

The Rutger Hauer Filmfactory is not only a creative playground for 30 filmmakers from all over the world, but for... Read more >

THIRD EDITION RUTGER HAUER MASTER CLASS

From June 18th through 28th 2009 the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory organises for the third time a ten-day international Master class... Read more >

International Short Film Festival

“It’s time to put on your shorts”... Rutger Hauer challenges filmmakers around the world to show him ''things never seen before''. Rutger... Read more >

Filmfactory documentary online

Watch the documentary on the 2008 masterclass online at our Youtube Filmfactory channel: www.youtube.com/filmfactoryshorts Have a unique behind... Read more >

Golden Calf for Culture Award goes to RH

On the Opening Night of the 28th Netherlands Film Festival on Wednesday 24 September, actor Rutger Hauer (1944) will be... Read more >

Premiere Shorts - The End of Filmfactory 2008

Blow the horns, ring the bells and beat the drums. The premiere of Rutger Hauer’s Filmfactory 2008 was finally there.... Read more >

Report Thursday 31/01 - Day 10

So here it is. The final day of the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory 2008. It’s a stormy day in Rotterdam. The... Read more >

Report Wednesday 30/01 - Day 9

Today the shorts must be finished, so tension is rising again. The producers are really busy finishing everything. The film... Read more >

Report Tuesday Afternoon 29/01 - Day 8

After the lecture of this morning there wasn’t anything on the program except for the D.O.P.’s. They had the chance... Read more >

Report Tuesday Morning 29/01 - Day 8

After the little party yesterday it wasn’t easy to get up today. But there was a very good reason to... Read more >

Report Monday 28/01 - Shoot part 2 - Day 7

Towards the end of the day the mood of the different teams changed a bit. One team had a lot... Read more >

Report Monday 28/01 - Shoot part 1 - Day 7

After a short night sleep every team went back to their location. The editors got into their little editing rooms,... Read more >

Report Shoot Sunday 27/01 - Shoot part 2 - Day 6

An apartment in the Photo Museum hosts several film world gems. During a beautiful performance by actors Derek de Lint... Read more >

Report Sunday 27/01 - Shoot part 1 - Day 6

The theme for the Rutger Hauer Film Factory shorts this year is ‘Songs of love and hate’. These 2 days... Read more >

Report Saturday Afternoon 26/01 - Day 5

Today’s Masterclass wasn’t in the lecture room. The art department volunteers build a special set just for today. It added... Read more >

Report Saturday Morning 26/01 - Day 5

The first half of this year’s Film Factory is already over. Time flies when you’re having fun and making films... Read more >

Report Friday Afternoon 25/01 - Day 4

This afternoon the writers had time to polish their script together with their coach. In the meanwhile the other team... Read more >

Report Friday Morning 25/01 - Day 4

We are approaching the end of the first week and today the lecture is: Making an anti Hollywood movie. Or:... Read more >

Report Thursday Evening 24/01 - Day 3

Dress it down! In the comfortable lounge of a gently rocking riverboat, with a pink sunset sky over the river... Read more >

Report Thursday Afternoon 24/01 - Day 3

Find the look, feel, tone and language of your movie: Editor Molly Stensgaard (Dancer in the dark, Dogville) and Marten Rabarts,... Read more >

Report Thursday Morning 24/01 - Day 3

The morning began with a Masterclass Editing by Molly Stensgaard. Although it was early the class was full of people... Read more >

Report Wednesday Evening 23/01 - Day 2

Five o’clock sharp. The deadline for the editors of all six teams. Under the supervision of Rutger Hauer and John... Read more >

Report Wednesday Afternoon 23/01 - Day 2

The second Masterclass was by Anton Corbijn and the classroom was filled like a can of sardines. The opening sentence:... Read more >

Report Wednesday Morning 23/01 - Day 2

This is the day the editors must show their skills. They have only eight hours to edit the material shot... Read more >

Report Tuesday Evening 22/01 - Day 1

At about half past six everyone moved from the boat to the location. The first real action of the week... Read more >

Report Tuesday Afternoon 22/01 - Day 1

After a short break Marcel Swagers and Dan Aldridge of NBC Universal joined. They presented the briefing for the one-minute-shorts,... Read more >

Report Tuesday Morning 22/01 - Day 1

After a good night's sleep and an early but diverse breakfast the participants went to the Masterclassroom for the first... Read more >

Report Monday 21/01 - Arrival Day

On a rainy and windy Monday afternoon thirty filmmakers from all around the world gathered together on a boat in... Read more >

Participants 2008

Here they are: The participants of Rutger Hauer Filmfactory 2008. For ten days these 30 filmmakers will face long days... Read more >

Creative Team Session

Molly Stensgaard and Marten Rabarts (Binger Filmlab) will give a session about creative cooperation.   The main idea of these sessions... Read more >

Coach Editing confirmed

Finally the long days and night on the set are over. All the shoots have been taken and the sounds... Read more >

Lecture by Editor Molly Stensgaard

This year Molly Stensgaard will give a lecture about editing. The main question is: How to approach a story?   Through samples... Read more >

Coach Script Confirmed

A news item, an unexpected event on the streets or a weird dream can be the birth of a new... Read more >

Coaches Producing Confirmed

It all seems so easy. You have a script, call an actor, grab a camera and shoot your film. But... Read more >

Masterclass by Art Director Ben Zuydwijk

Fifteen years ago Ben started as a painter and decorator in the fields of film and theatre. He worked on... Read more >

NBC shorts at Filmfactory

Factory, the word says it all. The participants are going to have ten tough days in Rotterdam, starting right from... Read more >

Coaches Cinematography confirmed

How to transform the letters from the script into the visual images we call a film. That’s the job of... Read more >

Pim de la Parra: Master of Minimal Movie.

In the mid sixties, a young Surinam/Dutch filmmaker decided to create films his own way, with minimal costs and minimal... Read more >

How one thing can lead to another

Coincidence or a twist of faith? Who knows. During the Masterclass of 2007 Mark Bouwmeester from Belgium and Kristiina Davidjants... Read more >

Volunteers Wanted

In order to make this Masterclass a success, we are looking for volunteers who can help out during the Masterclass.... Read more >

INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

"It's time to put on your shorts"...Rutger Hauer challenges filmmakers to show him ''things never seen before'', and he will... Read more >

Coach Directing John Putch

Last year John Putch taught the filmmakers of the Film Factory how to make their own independent film. Who needs a... Read more >