You are here : Home › Documentary

Lost At Sea

Zeeland, The Netherlands

Lost At
 Sea
 testifies 
of
 the 
idyllic 
and
 darker
 sides
 of
 a 
life 
at
 sea 
through 
the 
portrait
 of
 a
mysterious 
and
 traumatised
 man.


In 
the
 seventies,
 a 
small
 event 
in 
Port 
Harcourt,
 Nigeria,
 changed
 one 
man 
and 
his 
family
 forever.
After
 a
 miscalculation 
leading 
to 
a 
collision
 with 
a
 scaffold,
 captain 
Johannes 
Vleugels 
was brutally 
taken 
from 
his
 cargo
 ship
 and 
thrown 
in 
jail.
 There, 
he
 kept
 his 
life,
 but
 lost
 his 
sanity. Back
 home, 
the
seaman 
refused
 to
 speak
 about 
it, 
leaving 
his 
loved 
ones 
with
 questions 
that
 have
 haunted
 the
 family
since
 then.


Now, 
five 
years 
after
 the 
death 
of
 this 
troubled 
man,
 my grandfather,
 I
 will
 seek
 the
 exact
 truth 
behind
 this
collective 
trauma. But
 in
 this
 quest 
for
 truth,
 nothing
 comes 
easy.
 Names
 of
 seamen
 of
 the 
time
 are
difficult
 to
 trace,
 most
 witnesses 
have 
passed
 away,
 my
 grandmother’s
 memory
 vanishes
 piece
 by 
piece
and 
the
 shipping 
company
 refuses
 cooperation 
upon 
hearing
 my 
family 
name.

Slowly but surely, the puzzle gets reconstructed piece by piece. How did the seamen of the ship continue their lives since the incident? What is the shipping company keeping silent? And how will the captain's loved
 ones react when being confronted
 with 
the 
secrets 
he 
took with
 him
i nto
 the
grave?

------------------

This is going to be a short film, with a length not exeeding 45 minutes.

I will be funding the production phase myself. Donations will be used for post-production: color correction, an original score and professional sound design.

Gallery: 
Nieuwe getuigen / New testimonies
Saturday, 24 March, 2012 - 11:47

Nederlands/Dutch

Even geleden zijn we de rederijvertegenwoordiger van destijds op het spoor gekomen. We waren welkom bij zijn thuis, waar hij ons foto's en tekeningen toonde van het incident. Het was zijn taak daar (Nigeria, 1979) om alles zo snel mogelijk te laten verlopen voor de rederij, want tijd = geld...
Hij moest een gedetailleerd dagboek bijhouden voor de rederij, en dus vertelt hij ook over het moment waarop hij Kapitein Vleugels moest vrijkopen uit de gevangenis. Maar de man was niet bereid om het volledig aan ons te tonen. De reden waarom zien jullie in de film!

Met zijn uitleg komt er weer een nieuwe waarheid boven, met voorheen onbekende details. Het is lastig om uit te maken wat waarheid en werkelijkheid nog betekenen in een verhaal dat 33 jaar terug gaat. In hoeverre zijn feiten zich langzaamaan beginnen vermengen met fictie? Ons geheugen is namelijk geen fototoestel maar is constant onderhevig aan verandering. Dat kan zelfs zo erg worden dat we op latere leeftijd niet meer op ons geheugen kunnen vertrouwen: een aspect dat ook aan bod zal komen in deze film.

De recentste opnamens gaan over de zoon van de kapitein en zijn ambitie om zelf een houten boot te bouwen. Het begint allemaal met het kleinste onderdeel van de boot, waar zorgvuldig aan gewerkt en geschaaft wordt, totdat het de perfectie benadert.

Ondertussen zijn er een paar zeer getalenteerde mensen bezig met het componeren van muziek - de band Elders - en verzorgt het creatieve duo van BOOS een prachtig geanimeerde openingsscene.

Mooie dingen om naar uit te kijken dus!

 

Engels/English

A while ago we found the shipping company's representative, the agent. He welcomed us into his home, where he showed us photos and drawings of the incident. His duty in Nigeria (1979) was tot make sure everything went as fast as possible, in name of the shipping company. Time is money.
He had to keep a detailed diary of everything that happened there, so he had written about the day he had to go get my grandfather, Captain Vleugels, out of jail using bribes. But he was not willing to disclose the rapport to us in its entirety. The reason why? You'll see in the finished film.

His explaination brings a new truth bearing as of yet unknown details. It's difficult to seperate truth and reality from a story that goes 33 years back.
Are the facts merging with the fictional? Our memory is not a photocamera, it's constantly changing. It can be so bad that, at an older age, we cannot rely on our memory: an aspect that will be part of the film as well.

Recent recordings cover the Captain's son and his attempt to build a wooden ship, starting with the first small part that is being carved and cut until it nears perfection.

In the meanwhile there's a bunch of very talented people working on music (a band named Elders), and the creative duo of BOOS will take care of a beautifully animated opening scene.

Great things to look forward to!

Getting there!
Thursday, 29 March, 2012 - 18:01

A little update from the Lost At Sea headquarters! We are glad to announce that the sponsoring is going well, we have recieved donation number eight today. A great feeling that we can count on your faith and support during the making of this film.

Last few days have been intense. We have been filming the widow of the captain in her daily routines. Even though she is a very strong person, she seems to be going deeper into the mists of failing memory with every week passing.
We managed to film in a very old library as well, a beautiful space with rows and rows of old books and a cracking wooden floor that has a great charm - just not for the sound man :). For stills and pictures: check out our facebook page 'Lost at Sea' !

Soon we will start planning for the last phases of shooting, involving smashed up garage doors and live fish on a plate. I bet you have no clue what I am talking about, but I promise you: after seeing the film it will be hard to forget.

More updates soon!

 

Music sneak peek!
Friday, 6 April, 2012 - 21:33

Hi everyone!

Check out our facebook page to hear and see little sneak preview of the soundtrack that's being made by Elders as we speak. Just type 'Lost At Sea' in facebook's search bar.

More coming soon, stay tuned!

M.

  • wouters.bert85's picture
    wouters.bert85
  • marianneboeije's picture
    marianneboeije
  • Nomad's picture
    Nomad
  • gerwinbrabants's picture
    gerwinbrabants
  • nicvanderveken's picture
    nicvanderveken
  • brame's picture
    brame
  • bervoetswim's picture
    bervoetswim
  • veenhage's picture
    veenhage
  • sineadnibhroin's picture
    sineadnibhroin

Comments

Post new comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.