Wim Verstappen

Wim Verstappen (1987)

Wim Verstappen (born May 4, 1937 in Gemert , † July 24, 2004 in Amsterdam ) was a Dutch director , producer and screenwriter .

Live and act

Verstappen grew up on the island of Curaçao . From 1961 he studied at the Film Academy in Amsterdam and made his debut in 1966 with the film De minder gelukkige terugkeer van Joszef Katus naar het land van Rembrandt . Shortly after Nicolai van der Heyde , Gied Jaspars and Pim de la Parra founded the film paper Skoop in 1964 , Verstappen joined the editorial team because at the time an article was missing for the first issue. From 1966 he worked with de la Parra as a director and producer on various films. From 1967 both worked under the company name Scorpio Films . In the 1970s the duo became known as "Pim & Wim". They produced numerous Dutch feature films, including Blue Movie (1971) with explicit sex scenes that caused the adult film exams to be lifted. The income from these films made it possible for both of them to produce films that were difficult to achieve and important to them personally. For Verstappen, it was Dakota (1974)

After Scorpio Films was dissolved due to irreconcilable differences of opinion and debts, Verstappen directed the films Pastorale 1943 (1978) and Het verboden bacchanaal (1981), which were based on the novels of the same name by Verstappen's popular writer Simon Vestdijk . The first film, about the clumsy Dutch resistance during World War II , was a great success with more than a million viewers, but Het verboden bacchanaal fell far short of expectations and was heavily criticized. Verstappen was also director of De Zwarte Ruiter in 1983 and De Ratelrat in 1987 , but they were unsuccessful.

After that, Verstappen did not make any more films, but dedicated himself to safeguarding the filmmakers' rights. Verstappen was the inventor and founder of the copyright organization Sekam . His lobbying work to keep the credits on television films was also successful.

In 1992, Verstappen received the Dutch Filmmuseum Award for his services to the Dutch film industry and in 1995 a Golden Calf for his oeuvre .

Wim Verstappen died of kidney cancer at the age of 67 in his apartment in Amsterdam . On 29 July 2004, he was in the crematorium Westgaarde in Amsterdam buried .

Filmography (selection)

• 1965: IJdijk
• 1966: De less successful terugkeer van Joszef Katus naar het land van Rembrandt
• 1967: Liefdesbekentenissen
• 1967: Open House
• 1969: drop-out
• 1971: Blue Movie
• 1972: VD
• 1973: Frank en Eva
• 1974: Alicia
• 1974: Dakota
• 1974: Leren van Las Vegas
• 1975: Mens Erger Je Niet
• 1978: Pastorale 1943
• 1979: Grijpstra en de Gier
• 1981: Het verboden bacchanaal
• 1983: De Zwarte Ruiter
• 1985: Leren van Las Vegas
• 1987: De Ratelrat

Web links

• Wim Verstappen in the Internet Movie Database (English)