Wim Verstappen (4 May 1937 – 24 July 2004) was a Dutch
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
television director
A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...
, and
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
.
Verstappen grew up in
Curaçao
Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela.
Curaçao includ ...
. He began studies at the
Netherlands Film and Television Academy
The Netherlands Film Academy () (NFA) was founded in 1958.
The academy is the only recognised institute in the Netherlands that offers training to prepare for the work in the various crew disciplines. Specialisation is possible in fiction direc ...
in 1961, and released his first movie in 1966, ''De minder gelukkige terugkeer van Joszef Katus naar het land van Rembrandt''. He joined the editorial staff of the film magazine '' Skoop'' in 1963, working alongside
Nikolai van der Heyde
Nikolai van der Heyde (23 January 1936 – 6 August 2020) was a Dutch film director and screenwriter.Gied Jaspars, and Pim de la Parra. From 1966 on he directed and produced films with De la Parra, and in 1967 they founded a production company, Scorpio Films, becoming known as 'Pim & Wim'. Among their productions was the 1971 explicit film ''
Blue Movie
''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'' and ''F,k'') is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States ...
'', which led to the abolition of the Dutch film rating system for adults.
After the demise of Scorpio Films, Verstappen directed two films based on novels by
Simon Vestdijk
Simon Vestdijk (; 17 October 1898 – 23 March 1971) was a Dutch writer.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature fifteen times.
Life
Born in the small Frisian town of Harlingen, Vestdijk studied medicine in Amsterdam, but turned t ...
, '' Pastorale 1943'' (1978) and ''Het verboden bacchanaal'' (1981). While the first was a commercial success, drawing an audience of over a million, the second film flopped, as did two later films, ''De Zwarte Ruiter'' (1983) and ''De Ratelrat'' (1987).
Verstappen stopped directing films and focused on film rights, founding an organization to secure authors' copyrights. In 1992 he was awarded the Dutch Filmmuseum Award for his contributions to the Dutch film industry, and in 1995 he received a
Golden Calf
According to the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, the golden calf () was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai (bible), Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf" (). It is first mentio ...
for his body of work. He died of cancer in 2004, aged 67, in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
pedophilia
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...
, with Verstappen playing the pedophile)
*' (1966)
*' (1967; with
Ramses Shaffy
Ramses Shaffy (29 August 1933 – 1 December 2009) was a Dutch-French singer and actor who became popular during the 1960s. His most famous songs include "Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder", "We zullen doorgaan", "Pastorale", "Samm ...
)
*''Drop Out'' (1969)
*''
Blue Movie
''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'' and ''F,k'') is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States ...
'' (1971; with and )
*''VD'' (1972)
*'' Frank en Eva'' (1973)
*''Alicia'' (1974)
*''Dakota'' (1974)
*''Leren van Las Vegas'' (1974; 8 mm documentary, commentary by
Kees Brusse
Kees Brusse (; 26 February 1925 – 9 December 2013) was a Dutch actor, film director and screenwriter. A self-taught actor, he was remarkable for his natural acting style at a time when more theatrical performances were the norm in The Neth ...
)
*''Mens Erger Je Niet'' (1975; with
Rijk de Gooyer
Rijk de Gooyer (17 December 1925 – 2 November 2011) was a Dutch Golden Calf-winning actor, writer, comedian and singer. From the 1950s until the early 1970s, he became well known in The Netherlands as part of a comic duo with John Kraaijkamp ...
Simon Vestdijk
Simon Vestdijk (; 17 October 1898 – 23 March 1971) was a Dutch writer.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature fifteen times.
Life
Born in the small Frisian town of Harlingen, Vestdijk studied medicine in Amsterdam, but turned t ...
); adapted for television)
*'' Grijpstra & De Gier'' (1979; based on ''Het lijk in de Haarlemmerhouttuinen'' by Janwillem van de Wetering)
*''Het verboden bacchanaal'' (1981; based on the novel by
Simon Vestdijk
Simon Vestdijk (; 17 October 1898 – 23 March 1971) was a Dutch writer.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature fifteen times.
Life
Born in the small Frisian town of Harlingen, Vestdijk studied medicine in Amsterdam, but turned t ...
)
*''De Zwarte Ruiter'' (1983; adapted for television in 1986 as ''De Smokkelaar'')
*''Leren van Las Vegas'' (1985; re-edited version of the 1974 original)
*' (1987; based on the novel by Janwillem van de Wetering); adapted for television as ''Het Lijk In Friesland'')