The First Beginning
De la Parra and Verstappen started up their own film production company in March 1965: Scorpio Films. In their first year as producers, the duo immediately delivered a pair of much-discussed short films: Aaah ... Tamara, which was selected to go to Cannes, and the provocative Schermerhoorn by Mattijn Seip, which was banned by the film censorship board. The latter ended up causing a small riot, as the film had been made with money from the Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Work. De la Parra’s film Heart Beat Fresco was labelled as ‘impertinent’ and only just managed to be accepted by the censorship board.
Scorpio’s first feature film was shot in the spring of 1966: De minder gelukkige terugkeer van Joszef Katús naar het land van Rembrandt. Directed by Verstappen, the film was enthusiastically reviewed both at home and abroad and, out of the blue, Pim and Wim were suddenly in the international vanguard. They felt this affirmed that they were right: the film had been made for under 10,000 guilders (4,500 euros) and without a subsidy – which was completely unprecedented. This film would be followed within a couple of years by Liefdesbekentenissen and Obsessions.