Radmila Djurica

Keep Touch with The Skin Dutch   

According of one of aspects of the The Festival of New Author Films www.faf.rs in Belgrade Serbia, festival’s policy of renewing classical patterns of film narrative in the changed technological and civilization context we had the pleasure to see sort of renewed films. One of such is “Skin” based on true events and set in 1979, and is the tragic story of a boy who fights with a father traumatized by the Holocaust. The first feature length movie won 2007 Berlin Film Festival Golden Berlin Bear. Hanro Smitsman here talks about problem teenager who joins racist skinheads which necessarily estranges him from his black best friend and Jewish father in “Skin” is an efficiently assembled, but essentially little festival Dutch drama. The drama is directed by Dutch Hanro Smitsman from the TV, evokes similarly themed dramas in England in a post punk period of early 80s, but yet isn't in the same league. Film screening offshore are unlikely, but the film has a very good chance to be broadcast on festivals on Euro territories.

 As a typical low budget television film, showed on festival is probably an act of experiment for Hanro having a considerable experience on Dutch television and being so much awarded.  Hanro in 2005, Engel en Broer won Cinema Prize for Short Film at the Avanca Film Festival, which is for start, pretty big deal for a television film director.  Then in 2007, Raak ( Contact) won the Golden Bear Berlin Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Spirit Award at the Brooklyn Film Festival, the first place jury prize for "Best Live Action under 15 minutes" at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, and the Prix UIP Ghent Award for European Short Films at the Flanders International Film Festival. In 2008, “Skin” won the Movie Squad Award at the Nederlands Film Festival, and an actor in the film also won the Best Actor Award. It also won the Reflet d’Or for Best Film at the Cinema Tous Ecrans Festival in Geneva in the same year.