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a film by Marleen Jonkman

LOGLINEWhile on vacation in Chile, Dutch tourist Maud abandons her husband to travel alone. When she befriends ‘Messi’, a local boy who fills a void in her heart, the pair embark on a road trip to reinvent themselves.

SPECSRunning Time: 92 MinGenre: DramaYear: 2017Language: Dutch | English | SpanishCountries: Netherlands, GermanyFormat: HD

SYNOPSIS40-year-old Maud feels like she has failed. After years of trying, she and her husband Frank have to accept that they will never have children. To breathe new life into their relationship, Frank takes her on a trip to Patagonia, Chile. While Frank puts all of his energy into making a new start, Maud con-tinues to be obsessed with having a child. After one final quarrel on the subject, she abandons Frank to travel alone, without destination, over Chile’s serpentine topography.

Maud attempts to reinvent her identity with every new encounter, giving different names, nationali-ties, and personal narratives to different strangers. One day, she catches a ride with a vulgar, sexually aggressive trucker and his young son, who calls himself “Messi”. In a moment of desperation, Maud flees the trucker with Messi in tow. The pair forge a fleeting yet fierce bond, becoming a sort of sur-rogate family of two. Slowly, Maud begins to rembrace who she is as she realizes that there is more to life than the idealized vision she had of motherhood.

After the long journey from the rough and cold South of Patagonia to the sweltering heat of the Northern dessert, Maud finally makes peace with herself.

Why did you want to make this film?

The desire to have a child can be very deeply rooted. And it’s difficult to accept that it’s something you can’t control. I can easily imagine that it becomes an obsession for some women, driven by an immense feeling of emptiness.

The screenplay left room for feelings of loss, as well as re-empowerment, hence comfort and resignation. Childlessness is just a trigger in the story. The real theme lies within the rediscovery of oneself, in the journey. You don’t need to be a mother to be happy. My work is personal. I have to feel a deep connection to what I’m making, otherwise I really don’t know how to do it. I work in a very intuitive way, I’m interested in human relationships, defining who you are. A road movie is a great metaphor for life.

Not being able to conceive seems a hot topic these days, why is it important to make a film about it?

In our western society, we believe life is what we make of it, it’s our own responsibility to get as much out of life as possible. To be happy. But when confronted with a fact of nature, or maybe a failure of nature, you realise we are all humans, all equal and all just a small part of a bigger plan. We can’t control everything and that’s ok.

Describe Maud’s journey.

First she has to accept.Then she has to let go.Only then can she open up to her senses and embrace the world around her. Free. Liberated. Maybe even happy again.

Q&A W/DIRECTOR

It’s a linear story, did you also shoot it in chronological order?

Yes! We started in the south of Chile in Patagonia and finished 4500 km’s up north in the desert of Atacama. This enabled the actors to really grow into the story and to actually feel and breathe the changing landscapes and climate of Chile. I believe in authentic performances, so the closer it comes to reality, the better.

Frank remains present in the messages he leaves on Maud’s voicemail. Why did you choose this form?

Maud leaves Frank because she needs time for herself. It’s not that they don’t love each other anymore. It’s just too big to handle together. They both have good intentions. Maud uses his messages in which he explains his point of view to come to terms.

Why an open ending?

At the end of her journey, Maud has found peace with herself. Wether or not this includes Frank, is something we don’t know at this stage.

Why Chile?

Chile’s landscapes are not only stunningly beautiful, they also contain a healing power. Something I thoroughly experienced during my first research trip. If you travel the 4500 km from South to North, you go from cold, windy, icy, wet and grim to warm, open and welcoming. Even at script stage, the landscapes were like a character in the film. In the beginning, Maud mainly experiences nature as an opponent. She is resisting it, the same way she is fighting herself. Gradually, nature has a purifying impact on her and helps her to feel a connection she hoped to feel through motherhood.

It’s not only the landscapes, but also the Chilean culture that provides a different perspective. Chilean society is not individualistic, like some of the western (European) countries are. Spending time together and sharing experiences is more important than creating the ‘perfect life’. Being around people who are so open, social and relaxed is really heart warming. And every encounter in the film that Maud has helps her a step further.

How was it to work so far from home, in a foreign language, with a small crew?

It was fantastic. The crew was very small, almost documentary-like, and half Dutch, half Chilean. The Chilean crew was a big inspiration to me, as they dare to let go of total control and were very good in improvising. After the first couple of days, we really started to understand each other and the shoot felt like the ultimate playground. With a small crew, available light only, no art department except for a prop master and the actress doing her own make up and hair, we were extremely flexible. We could change scenes on the spot, shoot additional footage, or wait for the right light. I like to be open to the unexpected and any input from cast and crew. It feels like every cast and crew member contributed something very personal to the film.

How was it to work so far from home, in a foreign language, with a small crew?

It was fantastic. The crew was very small, almost documentary-like, and half Dutch, half Chilean. The Chilean crew was a big inspiration to me, as they dare to let go of total control and were very good in improvising. After the first couple of days, we really started to understand each other and the shoot felt like the ultimate playground. With a small crew, available light only, no art department ex-cept for a prop master and the actress doing her own make up and hair, we were extremely flexible. We could change scenes on the spot, shoot additional footage, or wait for the right light. I like to be open to the unexpected and any input from cast and crew. It feels like every cast and crew member contributed something very personal to the film.

What were your greatest challenges during the shoot?

There were many physical challenges for the actors and the crew; hiking through the mountains of Patagonia carrying our equipment in backpacks, four days on old ferry trying to not get sea sick, and battling altitude sickness in the deserts of Atacama at 4800 meters altitude. Pretty much everybody got sick except for Rifka. That’s pretty serious. You can’t think clearly, everything hurts and every step feels like you’ve been running a marathon. I could only walk, speak and think very slowly. I made a list of the absolute essential shots. We shot literally one.

The film is made by an all female team. Is that important to you?

Indeed, writer, director, producer and lead role are all women! And more key positions like line producer, editor and coproducer are women. I love it and I truly believe that a film like Messi and Maud that deals with such a sensible topics is better off with a female approach.

How did you and the lead actress Rifka Lodeizen prepare for this role?

Rifka is a very intuitive but also analytical actress. She needs to understand every word in the screen-play, so that once the camera is rolling she’s can let go and be in the moment. I rely on the emotional intelligence of my actors, and I’m open to their ideas and impulses. I discovered over the years that the more space you create for actors to bring something personal to the scene, the more powerful their performances are. I was lucky to work with actors (both Chilean and Dutch) that were very open, and willing to give a part of themselves to the role. I didn’t want to rehearse too much, and we didn’t play the scenes beforehand. I’m a bit afraid of rehearsing; the acting might become brainy if you do the same over and over again. It’s very import-ant to me to analyse the scenes together with Rifka and Guido (Pollemans), and to talk about the relationship and backstory. Rifka is a very analytical reader, and she suggested a few very valuable changes in the dialogues. We talked about personal experiences, about relationships. About the dif-ferences between Maud and Frank. This way we really got to know the characters, as if we met them before shooting.

How was it to shoot with an 8-year old Chilean boy?

I was very lucky with Cristobal. He’s a natural talent. After an intense search for boys, he was the only one that had this appealing mix of being super sweet but also annoying and street wise. It wasn’t easy for him to travel for almost two months with only adults. He liked to act, but he preferred single takes. Every other take was challenge. Sometimes I used his restlessness for the scene, and sometimes we just had to stop shooting and play a bit. I’m very proud of what he has achieved.

What was your ambition with this film?

It was our ambition to make a cross-over film. A film that resonates with a wide audience and the main character Maud, a visually attractive film. It can feel grand and exhilarating, but never over the top. The emotion is in the performance of the actors, the epic landscapes, the colours, the rhythm of the montage, the sound, and the music. We aim for a powerful kind of simplicity. A film with balls, that resonates. I wanted to capture many scenes in as little shots as possible, accentuated by the mise en scène and the camera movements.

The colours in the film coincide with the landscapes and natural light. It goes from cold to warm, from gritty to soft. A lot of blue in the South, green on the way to Santiago, chaos and an abundance of colours in Valparaiso, to brown, yellow, and red in the North of the Atacama desert. Ending with the dazzling white of the salt flats, in which space seems to fade because earth and air blend together. It is in this place where Maud coincides with herself and earth.

RIFKA LODEIZEN // ACTRESSRifka Lodeizen was discovered by director Eddy Terstall and

played a prominent role in many of his films including Simon, which lead to her first nomination for Best Actress for the Dutch Film Awards.

Rifka won the Golden Calf for Best Actress at the Dutch Film Awards for her role in the highly critically acclaimed film Kan Door Huid Heen (Esther Rots), which premiered at the Berlinale in 2009. She has also starred in Overspel III, Publieke Werken, Tonio, and Verdwijnen (Disappearance), which was selected for TIFF 2017.

Besides films, she plays various leading TV roles, making her one of Holland’s most prominent actresses. For her part as Elsie

in Overspel, she received her second Golden Calf for Best Actress TV drama in 2012. Rifka is also a screenwriter and is currently working on her first feature film.

MARLEEN JONKMAN // DIRECTOR Marleen Jonkman (1979) has been telling stories since she was

a child, illustrating the books her sister wrote. She studied film at the University of Amsterdam followed by the Netherlands Film Academy. She graduated film school in 2005 with her film Dochter, starring Matthias Schoenaerts. It toured the festival circuit and won a.o. Clermont Ferrand and Seattle. Several short films followed: Dao (2008), Iedereen die iets betekent (2009) and Verre Vrienden (2010) and she has directed many commercials, shorts and music videos.

Her feature debut Messi and Maud world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017.

DAAN GIELIS // WRITER After studying film, Daan Gielis worked in the international film industry for almost 20 years, including for the Netherlands Film Festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam (CineMart), producer Motel Films, distributor A-Film, and sales agent Fortissimo Films. From 2005 to 2012, Daan was Head of Talent & Communications of Binger Filmlab.

Daan always had a passion for script writing that lead to a spirited career move in 2012. Since then, she has made several short films: Undertow (2011, Golden Calf competition), Jacob (2016, dir: Daniel Nogueira) and Gamechanger (2016, dir: Christian van Duuren, World Premiere SXSW). During the summer of 2016, Daan took part in HOBRA: Resideñcia Artística Holanda Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, where she realized UberPOOL Rio (as writer/

director) and video installation The Visitor.

Her debut feature film Messi and Maud (dir: Marleen Jonkman), based on her own experiences, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017. Daan is currently developing various short films and feature project The Green-eyed Monster with Smarthouse Films.

DANIELLE GUIRGUIS // PRODUCERDanielle Guirguis studied both International Communication Sciences and Spanish at the University of Amsterdam and Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. She started her career as an Assistant Producer on Paul Verhoeven’s Zwartboek, was involved in Komt een Vrouw bij de Dokter by Reinout Oerlemans and De Gelukkige Huisvrouw by Antoinette Beumer as an Executive Producer and produced the teenage box office hits Spijt and Razend by Dave Schram and the family film De Groeten van Mike by Maria Peters.

She set up her own production company SMARTHOUSE FILMS that spotlights commercial arthouse. Smarthouse produces feature films, documentaries and commercials with an international focus.

Highlights include a series of 6 short films produced together with the International Film Festival of Rotterdam that all premiered at IFFR in 2016 and have travelled the festival world, production services for the Netflix Original series Trailerpark Boys and the Italian mafia film Black Souls. The first feature for Smarthouse Messi and Maud (by Marleen Jonkman) premiered at TIFF 2017.

Supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, developed at TorinoFilmLab and EAVE PUENTES, in coproduction with Saarländischer Rundfunk, funded by Nordmedia-

Film und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen.

Rifka Lodeizen Cristóbal FariasGuido PollemansDaniel CandiaPaola LattusAldo SandrinoRodrigo SotoCarolina DíazOctavio NavaretteMatias Burgos

CREW

DirectorWriter

Producers

Co-Producer

Line ProducerCinematographer

EditorCasting NLCasting CL

Art DirectionCostumes

Supervising Sound EditorSound Recordists

Composers

Marleen JonkmanDaan GielisDanielle Guirguis for Smarthouse Films (NL)Hans de Weers and Elwin Looije for Fatt ProductionsAnette Unger, Rüdiger Wolf and Sven Rudat for Leitwolf TV – undFilmproduktion (GER), Luis Cifuentes for Lucho Films Jet ChristiaanseJeroen de BruinWouter van Luijn and Katarina TürlerBetty Post and Houdijn Beekhuis Rodrigo del Castillo and Luis CifuentesAnahi Serena, Seves RojasLynn van EckRainer HeeschClaas Meier and Luuk HoogstratenDaniel Sus and Matthias Klein

MaudMessiFrank

Messi’s fatherJazmin

EzeFabian

ElisaJavier

Rodrigo

CAST