Cyrus Frisch (born 1969 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) is a Dutch

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

film maker. ''

Filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

'' magazine called him the wild man of Dutch film. According to

Holland Film Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in ...

, Frisch is one of the most daring film makers currently working in the Netherlands. His debut feature film ''Forgive Me'', meant as a critique of reality-TV culture, premiered at the

International Film Festival Rotterdam The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental f ...

in 2001 and set his name as a controversial filmmaker. Frisch himself plays the lead in that film. He pretends to be a devilish director without any ethical boundaries in search for the ultimate, exciting (fiction) film. He uses a group of (real) social outcasts and mentally handicapped as actors. Frisch is known to have made the first fictional feature film shot with a mobile phone: ''

Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me It Would Become This Bad in Afghanistan Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me It Would Become This Bad in Afghanistan (Dutch: ''Waarom heeft niemand mij verteld dat het zo erg zou worden in Afghanistan'') is the first narrative feature film shot with a mobile phone,https://screenanarchy.com/2023/10 ...

'', that premiered at major film festivals: the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2007,

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...

2007, the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

2007, Pesaro 2007, and several others. According to Dutch newspaper ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ' ...

'', Frisch pinpoints the insanity of western society nowadays with this film as precisely as

Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...

did in the 1960s with '' Repulsion'' (31 May 2007). In ''

Film Comment Magazine ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

'' (March–April 2010) Olaf Muller argues that Frisch's films "embody the stupor we're in as a civilization". ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' writes: "Frisch is a celebrity in the Netherlands, known for tackling difficult subjects." After graduating from Dutch Film Academy in 1992 he was nominated for the Grolsch Award, one of the most prestigious film awards in the Netherlands. In 2009, Frisch finished ''Dazzle'' (aka ''Oogverblindend''), which he started shooting 15 years earlier, with Dutch star-actress

Georgina Verbaan Georgina Carolina Verbaan (born 9 October 1979) is a Dutch actress and singer. Verbaan is best known for her recurring role in soap opera '' Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden''. She has also appeared in various Dutch films, including '' Costa!'', '' ...

and

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

in the lead. Indiewire's Eric Kohn describes ''Dazzle'' as a super-cool cinematic challenge. A ''Repulsion''-like thriller stuffed into the aesthetics of a

Chris Marker Chris Marker (; 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012) was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. His best known films are '' La Jetée'' (1962), ''A Grin Without a Cat'' (1977) and '' Sans Sole ...

diary film. According to the Tribeca Film Festival catalogue, in ''Dazzle'', "Frisch creates his own unique vision of a socially engaged cinema.""Dazzle"
Tribeca Film Festival. ''Dazzle'' is said to be Hauer's first film in his home country in 29 years. Frisch also became known as a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. ''Gharb'', "A short, sharp, blast of a play" (''The Stage'', 15 October 2004) was performed in different languages 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 ...

, France,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and England in 2004.

Filmography

*''Dazzle'' (aka ''Oogverblindend'') (2009) *''Blackwater Fever'' (feature film) (2008) *

Ellen ten Damme Ellen ten Damme (born 7 October 1967) is a Dutch actress, performer, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Ten Damme both sings and acts in four languages (Dutch, English, French and German), and plays piano and keyboards, guitar and violin ...

, "Stay" (music video) *''

'' / ''Waarom heeft niemand mij verteld dat het zo erg zou worden in Afghanistan'' (feature film) (2007) *''Forgive Me'' (feature film) (2001) *''Geen titel'' (medium-length documentary film) (1996) *''I Shall Honour Your Life'' (short documentary film) (1996) *''Live Experimenteren'' (medium-length documentary film) (1995) *''Selfpity'' / ''Zelfbeklag'' (experimental film) (1993) *''Welcome 2'' (short film) (1992) *''Screentest'' (short film) (1992) *''Welcome 1'' (short film) (1991) *''De Kut van Maria'' (short film) (1990)

References

External links

* * * * *
Review of ''Blackwater Fever''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frisch, Cyrus 1969 births Living people Mass media people from Amsterdam Dutch film directors