Housewitz
Synopsis
Lous, the mother of filmmaker Oeke Hoogendijk, hasn’t left the house for decades. She has a recurring nightmare in which she doesn’t know how to get home, just like the day when as a Jewish girl she was deported.
Scenes which at first sight seem very ordinary—an elderly woman in a living room watching television with her cat—gradually develop into the troubling portrait of an astute woman who has to live each day with the Holocaust as her housemate. Even the Christmas tree, which makes her as happy as a child, still reminds her of the Westerbork concentration camp.
Through their tragicomic telephone conversations and a web camera in the living room, Oeke brings us exceptionally close to her mother. She opens up to us completely, showing her sadness as well as her sharp sense of humor. The filmmaker maintains this clever balance thanks to delicate editing, interspersing her mother’s camp memories with the joys of a TV travel program and the calming effects of house music.
Credits
Director(s)
Oeke Hoogendijk
Producer(s)
Frank van den Engel for Discours Film, Oeke Hoogendijk for Discours Film
Executive Producer(s)
Bernet Crucq for Discours Film
Script
Oeke Hoogendijk
Cinematography
Sander Snoep, Jet Homoet, Oeke Hoogendijk
Editor
Katharina Wartena
Original Music
Juho Nurmela
Original Language
Dutch
Subtitles
English
Involved TV Channel
EODocs
Festival Highlights
-
Jury Mention
for Best Dutch FilmIDFA2021 -
2nd Place
Audience AwardIDFA2021 -
Nominated
for Best short DocumentaryDutch Golden Calf Award2022
Zagreb Jewish Film Festival- Festival of Tolerance , Croatia, 2022
Berlin Jewish Film Festival, Germany, 2022
Millenium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland, 2022
DOK.fest Munich, Germany, Best of Fest section, 2022
HotDocs, Canada, World Showcase, 2022
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece, Film Forward International Competition, 2022
IDFA, Netherlands, Envision Competition, 2021
Reviews
-
"Remarkable portrait, poignant and expertly illustrated, Harrowing and moving"
- NRC
-
"Unforgettable,
Portrait of an indestructible charismatic woman"
- De Volkskrant
