Openingsavond Felix de Rooy

From 6 to 27 May, Eye is devoting attention to the life and work of Felix de Rooy (Willemstad, 1952), who as one of the first makers from the Antilles and Surinam called attention to the culture of these former Dutch colonies.

With films such as Almacita di desolato (1986) and Golden Calf winner Ava & Gabriel – Un historia di amor (1990) De Rooy – along with screenwriter and producer Norman de Palm (Oranjestad, 1948) – created a unique world in which reality, dream, spirituality and mythology merge seamlessly.

Artists’ collective

The director had previously set up theatre group Illushón Kosmiko with De Palm, causing uproar in Amsterdam under the name Cosmic Illusions Productions as an intercultural artists’ collective and production house.

The opening evening celebrates De Rooy’s fascinating and varied career, his exhibition in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum and his view of developments in Black culture in the Netherlands, the Caribbean and Surinam. Subject to reservation in the presence of the filmmaker himself.

Program

The screening of Almacita di desolato is preceded by the short film Running 8/45 (Germaine Binstead, 1970, 10’) in which De Rooy acts, running through parks, woods and dunes before finally kneeling at a lone flower on the beach. Afterwards, we will be screening Almacita di desolato, a story filmed on Curaçao with a prominent role for curses and spirits.