Martinus Wouter "Martin" Koolhoven (born 25 April 1969) is a Dutch

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Internationally he is most known for '' Schnitzel Paradise'' (2005), ''

Winter in Wartime ''Winter in Wartime'' (''Oorlogswinter'', 1972) is a novel by the Dutch writer Jan Terlouw. The story is about a 15-year-old Dutch boy who lives through the last winter of World War II and is based on the author's recollections; Terlouw was eigh ...

'' (2008) and '' Brimstone'' (2016), which was his first film in English. It was released in 2017, after it premiered in the competition of the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

in 2016.

Early life and education

Martin Koolhoven was born on 25 April 1969 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Koolhoven went to the Dutch Film Academy (in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

) and graduated in 1996 as a screenwriter and director.

Career

His first film was a 53-minute television film named ''Duister Licht'' (''"Dark Light"''). His second film ''Suzy Q'' featured actress Carice van Houten, who Koolhoven worked with several times in the films to come. It was also the feature debut of actor Michiel Huisman. His first (Dutch) cinematic release was ''

AmnesiA Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

'' (2001), which also got a small release in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 2004, Koolhoven was one of the ''New Faces In European Cinema'' as presented by Pedro Almodovar at the AFI festival (Hollywood). In 2005 Koolhoven directed '' Schnitzel Paradise''. The film was shown at many international film festivals, including the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

and the Karlovy Vary Film Festival where it was part of the Variety Critic's choice. In the same year Koolhoven released ''Bonkers'', a children's movie. In 2008 Koolhoven made ''Oorlogswinter (

)'', a Dutch movie based on the novel by the same name, written by Jan Terlouw. The movie was the Dutch entry for the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

but failed to get nominated. The movie was distributed in the United States by

Sony Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produce ...

and was sold to about 25 other countries. In 2010, Koolhoven started his own production company, together with producer Els Vandevorst, called N279 Entertainment that produced several movies. His first production for N279 Entertainment as a director was the western named ''Brimstone''. It premiered at the

73rd Venice International Film Festival The 73rd annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2016. English director Sam Mendes was the President of the Jury for the main competition. The opening night film was Damien Chazelle's musical ''La La Lan ...

in 2016 and became Koolhoven's fifth consecutive hit film in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 2020, Koolhoven received the Silver Rose, an award given annually to a person or institution that is or has been of great significance to the Dutch film world. In 2022 Koolhoven was presented with the Rutger Hauer Award, which is given annually to a person or an institution that has made an important contribution to the development and promotion of young film talent in the Netherlands. Koolhoven has said to be working on a noir thriller, set in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

Filmography

Films

* ''Chess'' (1993) – short film * ''KOEKOEK!'' (1995) – short film * ''De Orde Der Dingen'' (1996) – short film * '' Duister licht'' (1997) – TV film * ''

Suzy Q Suzy Q's were an American brand of snack cake produced and distributed by Hostess Brands similar to the Drake's Devil Dog. The oblong sandwich, of either devil's food cake or banana-flavored cake with white crème filling, was invented in 1961 ...

'' (1999) – TV film * ''

'' (2001) * '' De grot'' (2001) * ''

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

'' (2004) * '' Schnitzel Paradise'' (2005) * '' Knetter'' (2005) * ''

'n Beetje Verliefd ''n Beetje Verliefd'' (official English title: ''Happy Family'', literal translation: ''a little in love'') is a 2006 Dutch comedy film directed by Martin Koolhoven. The film received a Golden Film award since the film sold 100,000 tickets.

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008) * '' Brimstone'' (2016)

TV series

* '' Koefnoen'' (2007) – western and Ingmar Bergman parodies * ''De kijk van Koolhoven'' (2018-now) – Dutch TV series in which Koolhoven takes a look at his favorite genres and their movies.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koolhoven, Martin 1969 births Dutch film directors Dutch screenwriters Dutch male screenwriters Golden Calf winners Living people Mass media people from The Hague