Artist and filmmaker Jeske MAAS (Netherlands) graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Art (focused on advertising) from the Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam. She works as a film director and creative freelancer and enjoys contributing to social projects. Jeske believes there are many stories still to be told and filmed. Her first film Nani (2022), selected for IFFR 2023, is a portrait of feminist Nani Kamphuis.
When Jeske first came across the famous photograph of Nani Kamphuis, taken by Dutch photographer Jan Dirk, she was immediately struck by the story behind the image. Jeske was fascinated by the idea of learning more about the woman in the middle of the picture and decided to do more research about her ‘Dolle Mina’ past and life story.
'Baas in eigen buik' picture with Nani Kamphuis in the middle, picture taken by Jaap Herschel in the collection of Atria
Two years later, Jeske’s fascination with Nani's story led her to make a documentary about the woman, which would eventually become her graduation film. The process of making the film was not without its challenges, however. Nani lives in a remote location in the US so the crew had limited access to technology and power, making the shooting days difficult: “Working with Nani was a fun but also challenging experience. Nani is used to living alone in nature and has her own rules about how she interacts with the environment. This took some getting used to, but eventually we formed a strong connection with Nani", says Jeske.
The crew for the film consisted of Jeske (director), a sound recordist (Annemarie Mulder) and a cinematographer (Lidewei Egbers), with additional support from a sound designer (Johan van der Voet, color grader (Kevin Kimman), graphic designer (Anouk van Cleef) and editor (Svasti Sewnath) in the Netherlands.
Crew 'Nani' in the US during the shooting days
Jeske believes that it is important to tell Nani's story because she is an important figure in the history of contraception and abortion rights, but has since withdrawn from the public eye and begun living a more secluded life. “I wanted to pay a tribute to Nani since she has done so much for female emancipation. Also, Nani is currently battling breast cancer, so the time was now”, says Jeske.
Jeske was surprised by how much she learned about Nani's way of life during the two weeks she spent filming with her: “It was important for me to get accustomed to her way of living, in order to be able to tell Nani's story in an honorable and respectful way”, says Jeske.
The film has been well received and was selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), something Jeske did not expect after having to do a resit graduation exam at WdKA. “I think that as a filmmaker you should never let the opinion of other stop you from creating”, says Jeske.
Nani will be screened at the RTM day on January 27, where IFFR puts the spotlight firmly on films and makers from Rotterdam. The selection was made by this year's RTM curators: Cheryl Ashruf, Noemi Biro and Nizar el Manouzi. You can buy tickets for Nani here.
Jeske is now working at Kaaps Films as a director, where she is developing her skills and learning more about the film profession. She is also interested in making more documentaries and creating video clips with deeper layers of meaning in the future. You can follow her on Instagram or check her website to stay updated on her work.
