CM 2021

Netherlands Film Fund

The Maalstroom

De Maalstroom

Pitch video

Goals at CineMart During CineMart we are aiming to develop our script further and meet potential partners and co-producers.Synopsis
 De Maalstroom is a tragicomic, modern epic, set on the inland waters of an inhospitable Western Europe. The story of an inland skipper Jan, who finds it difficult to digest, let alone process, the death&nbsp;of his mother and the changing of his world. A world that we see as it glides past us from the water. Besides a literal race against the clock to be back in time for his mother&rsquo;s funeral, it&rsquo;s a coming of age story about a young man who seeks redemption from his grief and guilt and finds it in an unexpected corner. When it turns out that a group of economic migrants have built a refugee camp on his ship, he&nbsp;is forced to decide how to deal with his feelings of guilt and loss. What kind of person does he want to become? His journey home becomes an intimate Homeric journey full of contrasts and clashes between people, cultures and ideologies.Director's Biography
 After his studies at the Met Film School in London, Teddy Cherim wrote and directed the Dutch/Belgian feature film Sterke verhalen, making him the youngest Dutch director ever to have a full countrywide cinematic release of a film. In 2013, after a life-changing documentary project in Syrian refugee camps along the Syro-Lebanese border, he started a production company called&nbsp;Developing Films, focusing on the making of developmental and campaign films for NGOs.&nbsp;He realised that he could use his filmmaking &lsquo;powers&rsquo; to make an impact. In 2014 he moved to Kenya to work as Creative Director at MIATV, an East-African media production company based&nbsp;in Nairobi. Here, he developed TV formats for local television, trained inexperienced filmmakers and directed documentaries. Since 2016, Teddy has been back in the Netherlands, shooting commercials, documentaries, interactive projects and short films. In 2018 he won critical acclaim for his VR documentary&nbsp;Meet The Soldier. In 2019 he shot an NTR Kort!&nbsp;Vensepolder&nbsp;and a Teledoc Campus&nbsp;Goodwill Dumping. He focusses his work on colliding cultures and disparity between people. He is currently developing his next feature film&nbsp;De Maalstroom.

Graniet Film

While transporting a shipful of white desert sand from Le Havre to a city beach in Rotterdam inland, boatman Jan discovers an East-African refugee camp in the hold of his family ship, De Maalstroom. These unexpected passengers force Jan to face the present world that has been passing him by for years.