Jos de Putter (Netherlands)

Jos de Putter (born in 1959 in Terneuzen, Netherlands) graduated in comparative literature at Leiden University in 1984. After working as a film critic, Jos de Putter has been making films since 1993. His first film, It’s been a lovely day, about the last year of his parents’ work on their farm, was highly praised by critics and on festivals worldwide. The film won the dutch film prize for best debut and also set box office records in the Netherlands for documentary film. His second, Solo, the law of the favela focused on eleven year old children in the slums of Rio de Janeiro and their dreams to become soccer players. The film won the prestigious Joris Ivens-award at the International Documentary Filmfestival in Amsterdam, 1994. The making of a new empire (1999) was made inside Chechnya in a time of war and anarchy, when the country was ‘closed’. The film portrays a charismatic godfather, rebel and visionary. Also partly set in Chechnya, and highly succesful, was Dans, Grozny dans (2002). It is the portrait of a youth dance ensemble on their tour through western europe and at home, in the ruined city of Grozny. The documentary won eight international festivals and was sold to numerous countries. In 2005, Jos de Putter was honoured with a presentation of all his films in the National Gallery of Art (Washington), the Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY), and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in California. Most of his films have also been shown in The Museum of Modern Art (New York) and on numerous festivals all over the world.