Rise and Shine World Sales has announced the acquisition of the IDFA competition film Selling A Colonial War (trailer) by Korean-Dutch director In-Soo Radstake. The film world premieres November 11 at the Royal Theatre Carré. Rise and Shine told BDE that four of the six IDFA screenings are already sold out.
The Berlin-based sales company say how “Selling A Colonial War exposes the Dutch government’s narrative during the Indonesian War of Independence. Using propaganda and collaborating with media and historians, they framed their interventions as peacekeeping. Hidden beneath was a motive to retain their valuable colony for post-war recovery and global status. This documentary unravels the concealed history, revealing layers of deceit and global politics, spotlighting the enduring narrative that masked the Netherlands’ actions in Indonesia for decades.”
Talking to See NL before IDFA director In-Soo Radstake commented: “I’ve done quite a lot of work on my own Korean background and also on colonialism in the west. [But] I actually realised I didn’t know enough of what was going on in the east…I have an Indo-European girlfriend and two children, who are Korean and Indo-European, therefore I thought I should know more about their background.”
The producers are Nadadja Kemper and Rob Vermeulen for Holland Harbour. Periscoop is handling distribution in the Netherlands.
Rise and Shine World Sales is handling sales on two further films in IDFA 2023 official selection. These are In Wolf Country (Frontlight) by German director Ralf Bücheler and Son of the Mullah by Swedish-Iranian filmmaker Nahid Persson.
The synopsis for In Wolf Country reads: “We all know the big bad wolf of fairy-tale fame – over hundreds of years the wolf has become a culturally imprinted symbol of fear that’s completely detached from reality. In fact there weren’t even any wolves in western Europe for a long time. But they’re back – for example in Germany, where these social animals now occupy a few scattered areas around the country that people have left to them. In Europe, the comeback of the wolf and how to handle it is currently one of the most disputed topics of the cohabitation of nature and mankind.”
The synopsis for Son of the Mullah reads: “The Swedish-Iranian filmmaker Nahid Persson is known for uncompromisingly critical films about her native country. In her latest documentary, she focuses on the Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam. Like many of his colleagues, Zam operates from abroad, due to the lack of press freedom in Iran. He exposes the corruption and hypocrisy of the Iranian regime. He does so at the risk of his own life and lives under permanent guard…The film seems more like a spy thriller than a documentary. But tragically, it’s all too real.”
