65 Years of the Film Academy: Marina Meijer

The Film Academy turns 65 this year! To celebrate this landmark anniversary, Eye Filmmuseum has been given access to every graduation film ever made, right from the very start back in 1958 – some of these films haven’t been screened since then. The films will be incorporated into the Eye collection over the next few years, and a selection of them can be seen on the Eye Film Player. We spoke to some of the makers. Marina Meijer graduated in 2015 with her documentary Cargo.

By Michael Oudman01 July 2024

What did the Filmacademie teach you?

“It taught me to really look properly. On the outside, the Filmacademie is entirely made of glass, yet on the inside it’s stone. In other words, you can’t look out and that is claustrophobic, but also interesting. That sense of being locked away forces you to look at yourself. How do you look and why? This is enhanced by the fact that you have to work with a cameraman and a sound recordist. They are your eyes and ears, so you have to communicate clearly what you want to see and hear, and this makes you conscious of your perspective. Nowadays, I do my own filming and sound recording. I care about the people I film and therefore like to spend as much time with them as possible – I sometimes follow them for a year and I can’t expect a cameraman to do the same.”

Marina Meijer

Why documentaries?

“Because I can then be somewhere with particular people. The idea develops from some feeling inside, I subsequently seek out a world or the people that can translate that feeling. People I appreciate; that I can learn something from. There is also something to do with connection in there. Even though you have little in common with people, you nevertheless feel the connection, enabling you to spend time with them. People who have watched Cargo sometimes say: ‘You’re a real fly on the wall, those people don’t even realise you are there’, however, I am conversely very present. The characters often also talk to me. Only, I don’t put that in the film. Mutual trust develops; a kind of friendship. I recently bumped into Frans, the lead in Cargo, and it was really fun to talk to him again after such a long time. He has since retired and fallen in love again. And has a small boat that bears the name of his new love in calligraphy.”

“Even the people you least expect are romantics.”

Marina Meijer

still Cargo (Marina Meijer, NL 2016)

What is your favourite book?

“Konstantin Paustovski’s series of autobiographical works, Story of a Life. Everything is enveloped in a haze of melancholy. He truly is the master of describing ambience. My granny is Russian, so perhaps that helped too. She made me read Anna Karenina when I was 12 and that blew me away. When I was 24, people at the Filmacademie always told me: ‘Marina, you’re way too romantic, you’re a dreamer!’, but I proved them wrong. Even the people you least expect are romantics.”

Watch online

Watch Cargo for free on the Eye Film Player.

Visit the Eye Film Player

still from Cargo (Marina Meijer, NL 2016)

still Cargo (Marina Meijer, NL 2016)

What would you like to say to future Filmacademie students?

“You should walk your own path and not listen to others too much. Listen to yourself. So, forget what I just said! Other people are really important and you can’t do without them, but to find some peace you need to go back to yourself.”

still from In Kropsdam is iedereen gelukkig (Joren Molter, NL 2016)

still In Kropsdam is iedereen gelukkig (Joren Molter, NL 2016)

Eye Film Player

The Nederlandse Filmacademie will celebrate its 65th anniversary this year. Stream a special selection of graduation films from 65 years of Film Academy history. A new film is added every month.

Visit the Eye Film Player