SYNOPSIS
Tom, the filmmaker, receives a letter from South Africa. His long forgotten 95-year old grandmother Mariann, asks him to come and help her with her will. Tom sets off to South Africa and decides to bring his camera. This starts a journey for the filmmaker and his grandmother, looking back at her life and trying to understand his own. Through the eyes and the stories of his grandmother he realizes what happened to his father and uncle, whom she placed in an orphanage when they were kids, to pursue her own life and dreams.
CAST & CREW
Tom Fassaert
Director
Producer(s)
Wout Conijn
Script
Tom Fassaert
Director of Photography
Tom Fassaert
Music by
Tobias Borkert
Sound
Senjal Jansen
Edit
Claudio Hughes
Production company(ies)
Conijn Film, Clin D’oeil Films, Danish Documentary
Tom Fassaert
Tom Fassaert grew up in the Netherlands and partly in South Africa. These extreme differences already opened his eyes at a young age. But it was his dad's obsession with making home movies that undoubtedly planted the first seeds that ultimately grew into Fassaert's passion for film. Tom Fassaert debuted with his feature length documentary An Angel in Doel about a small Belgian village threatened with demolition. It premiered at the Berlinale, screened at +50 festivals worldwide and won several international awards. Fassaert's second feature length documentary is A family affair. A film that explores the delicate terrain along the fault lines of his own family. It was the Opening Film of IDFA 2015 where Fassaert also received the prestigious Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds Documentary Award for his works. After winning the Special Jury Award at IDFA, the film started its journey to many international festivals and received numerous awards. It recently won the Golden Kalf (Dutch Academy Award) for best long documentary and is acquired by Netflix to be broadcasted globally. Variety recently named Fassaert ‘One of the Ten Docu-makers to Watch'. Parallel to his passion for filmmaking Tom Fassaert also teaches at international film schools.
Filmography
Doel’s Life (2006), An Angel in Doel (2011), Marinus Boezem (2013), A Family Affair (2015).
