Filmmaker Robert-Jonathan Koeyers and producer Richard Valk pitched their fully funded new doc project, which tells an existential tale of loss after a computer hard drive is irreparably damaged. In the process Koeyers lost 2146 irreplaceable video files and assets pertaining to his film projects. But rather than give up, this disaster became the catalyst both for exploration and reflection. With his family members the director returned to all the past locations in order fill in the collective gaps within their lives and memories.
“Many of my recordings have always centred around myself – my feelings and my experiences growing up,” Koeyers writes in his notes for the film. “It wasn’t until I started making my last film It’s Nice in Here (selected for Cannes Critics Week 2022) that I came to realise the importance of working together in telling meaningful stories, and providing a platform where under-represented voices can come to light.”
“Although Little Lost Things tells a specific and deeply personal story, it must also be universal enough for other Black and/or immigrant families to relate to,” Koeyers adds. “Families who have had to leave everything behind to start anew, and are still grappling with what they’ve lost.”
Producer Valk is no stranger to daring, boundary-expanding cinema, much of it animated. He produced the films of the late (great) Rosto, and has collaborated with a host of highly talented, international-recognised independent filmmakers, such as Adriaan Lokman, Maarten Isaak de Heer, Daphna Awadish, Hisko Hulsing, Juliana Erazo, Arjan Brentjes, Abner Preis, Daan Lucas, Suzie Templeton and Douwe Dijkstra.
“We are out to make an eclectic, kaleidoscopic film that positions itself as a documentary, an essay film, a fictitious reconstruction of memories, with several animations to serve as the glue keeping it all together,” Valk tells BDE of Little Lost Things. “As opposed to finding one coherent visual style, we are purposefully embracing the different cinematic styles, the imperfections, and the fact that we are looking at a film.”
“As a producer, I’m very inclined to embrace the director’s ideas and prioritize them for as long as possible,” he further comments. “The director’s ideas were so strong from the start, and his track record so convincing, that I immediately envisioned a unique project that would certainly get a good distributor, but hopefully also a grand premiere…”
And in turn attract a smart, savvy and cine-literate paying audience.
“Given the hybrid nature of Little Lost Things, it is likely that documentary enthusiasts, art house lovers, and individuals with a penchant for experimental cinema might resonate with our resistance to traditional narrative structures and our continuous search for new visual languages and forms of visual expression,” says Valk.
“We also hope that we will find an audience that is drawn to the film’s exploration of real-life themes such as loss, family archives, and intergenerational taboos Especially those who are drawn to more intimate and personal stories that explore complex family dynamics, while intersecting them with larger historical and societal narratives, may see aspects of their own lives reflected in the film’s characters and themes.”
Valk was able to raise all the finance for the project, even though it won’t be ready for delivery until May 2026. As impressive a feat as this is, the producer deflects compliments as per his ability to close the budget. “More important than convincing any investors, we found it most important to convince our collaborators, the director’s family members, and [the director] himself, that this film was not only worth making, but that it was essential,” he tells BDE. “Robert-Jonathan said, ‘if I can convince myself that I need to make a film, I don’t tend to concern myself too much about what investors think.”
For the film’s premiere, Valk and Koeyers are eyeing up high profile docfests such as IDFA, Hot Docs and DOK Leipzig. “A dream would be to return to Semaine de La Critique, where our previous short film It’s Nice in Here was selected. But once the film has come together a bit more, we’ll start strategizing with our festival distributor to ensure that as many people can see the film and it can reach the right people.”
