By Iekje Smit
Actress, writer and director Ayisha Siddiqi has been selected for the Debut Competition of the Netherlands Film Festival with her first film, 1 april. Siddiqi was born in Saudi Arabia, has Pakistani roots and has lived in the Netherlands since 1995. She graduated from the Toneelacademie Maastricht in 2018. In 1 april, fourteen-year-old Alicia wants to spend one more unforgettable day with her best friend Soenita. But behind the jokes lies a harsh reality: their lives are about to change drastically. The film will be screened during the Groninger Filmdagen, 27–29 November at Camera, Groningen.
At this Beeldcoalitie knowledge session during the Groninger Filmdagen, director Thomas Nauw of CFX describes how he and his brother Maarten went from YouTube to the cinema. Using clips from 23 Brieven van Vincent, he shows how AI made extensive visual effects possible on a limited budget.