
Edwin Brienen (born June 15, 1971 in
Alkmaar
Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...
,
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
) is a Dutch film director, actor, producer, journalist and radio
moderator. In German press he's often called 'the Dutch
Fassbinder' because of the high production-level and style of his films. He lives in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Germany.
Biography
After studying philosophy and psychology, Edwin Brienen embarked on a career as a radio host at the age of 22. His programs for Dutch broadcasting association
VPRO
The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...
attracted a nationwide following. On television he starred in the underground series ''Ultra Vista!''. For television he directed the shows ''Buch, Burgers & Buitenlui'' and ''Hoe Hoort het Eigenlijk?'' with
Theo van Gogh. In 2001, he wrote, directed, and edited his debut feature film ''
Terrorama
''Terrorama!'' (2001) is the first feature film of Netherlands, Dutch director Edwin Brienen. In 2002 ''Terrorama!'' won the award for ''Best film'' at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival and ''best leading actress'' at the Toronto Independe ...
!'', a dark story about a group of dispirited people who seek out 'psychological freedom' by committing an act of terror. A year later, Brienen returned to
VPRO
The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...
and, in September 2001, he created a series about the New York underground scene.
Brienen's fourth feature, ''Both Ends Burning'', premiered during the Brienen Festival in 14 Dutch theaters in January 2005. The film probes the underbelly of relationships and is suffused with an atmosphere reminiscent of French cinema of the '70s but also contains bone-chilling moments that recall ''
Carrie'' and ''
Repulsion''. In 2005,
Arte
Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...
TV broadcast a documentary about Brienen in which they compared his work and intensity with Kubrick's ''
A Clockwork Orange''.
''Last Performance'' (2006) and ''Revision – Apocalypse II'' (2009) both premiere at the
Netherlands Film Festival
The Netherlands Film Festival () is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht.
During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides feature films, the prog ...
in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
. In 2008, Brienen works together with Austrian actor
Erwin Leder known from the 1981 classic ''
Das Boot
(; ) is a 1981 West Germany, West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. An Film adaptation, adaptation of Lothar-Günthe ...
'' as directed by
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. His international breakthrough was the 1981 war film (1981), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Directo ...
. The result is called ''L'amour toujours'' and Leder plays an obsessed director that resembles Brienen. Two German spoken films are released in 2009 and 2011: ''Viva Europa!'' about the
revolutions of 1989
The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Communist state, Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts ...
and ''Lena Wants to Know Once and For All'', a melancholic comedy about the search for love.
In October 2012, the
Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival in Switzerland honoured Brienen by presenting a retrospective of his films, including the world premiere of ''
Exploitation''.
December 2016 saw the premiere of Brienen’s 15th feature film, ''God''. It’s a story about striptease dancer Alice, whose boyfriend is hunted by a corrupt political regime after leaking secret government documents. Stuck in a web of intrigue and violent threats, a nun confronts Alice with her stubborn dogmatism. The film got nominated for “best narrative feature” at the Great Lakes Film Festival in 2017. That same year, the prestigious Centrum Filmowe Kraków presented an Edwin Brienen film retrospective.
''E.Brienen w Centrum Filmowym Kraków''
AMA Film Academy Thereafter, Brienen took two years off to write on his debut novel. In 2020 he returned with a short film, ''Accidents Never Happen in a Perfect World'', shot during the pandemic lockdown.
Filmography
* 2020 ''Accidents Never Happen in a Perfect World'' (short)
* 2016 ''God''
* 2012 '' Exploitation''
* 2011 ''Lena Wants to Know Once and For All''
* 2010 '' Revision - Apocalypse II''
* 2009 ''Viva Europa!''
* 2009 ''Phantom Party''
* 2008 ''L'amour toujours''
* 2007 ''I'd Like to Die a Thousand Times''
* 2006 ''Last Performance''
* 2006 ''Hysteria''
* 2005 ''Why Ulli Wanted to Kill Himself on Christmas Eve''
* 2004 ''Both Ends Burning''
* 2003 '' Berlin Nights Grand Delusions''
* 2002 ''Antifilm''
* 2001 ''Terrorama
''Terrorama!'' (2001) is the first feature film of Netherlands, Dutch director Edwin Brienen. In 2002 ''Terrorama!'' won the award for ''Best film'' at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival and ''best leading actress'' at the Toronto Independe ...
''
External links
Official Website
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brienen, Edwin
1971 births
Living people
Dutch film directors
People from Alkmaar