Filmmaking is all about image and sound. This is evident, but making an effort into sound is often neglected. In DOORGAAN/THE OARSMEN sound plays a vital role. The way you experience the film, is due to the excellent sound in interaction with the image. With every new shot the audience get pulled more and more into the film. It works the same way a James Bond picture. If you see it screened in a cinema setting, you get the special feeling and is the 5.1 sound mix at its best. In that way this short documentary is real cinema, made for the big screen.
The shooting of the film in this quality is only possible due to the new small HD camera's. The cameraman could get into the small very narrow boat. He could move with the main character, getting the best angle.
Making a film like this is all about preparation in advance and trust into the crew. As director I try to make clear what I want, what the aim of the film is. Carefully listing to the crew and to find together the approach of shooting. I want to tell a story with images. The short off screen text makes that the spectators watch in a certain way. Image and sound do the rest, until the last moment where the statement a kind of catch. That makes the structure of the film like a classical column.
If you watch DOORGAAN/THE OARSMEN it is clear it is made with great skill and joy.
Film critic Pieter van Lierop at the Dutch Film Festival about THE OARSMEN: 'This is pure cinema'