Contract Hotels receives Crystal Film

Contract Hotels  - Djangan Loepah! receives Crystal Film for 10.000 tickets sold

The Dutch documentary Contract Hotels  - Djangan Loepah! by Hetty Naaijkens - Retel Helmrich has been awarded with a Crystal Film for over 10.000 visitors since it´s release. Contract Hotels  - Djangan Loepah! is the first documentary this year to reach the status of a Crystal Film in the Netherlands.

Contract Hotels  - Djangan Loepah! tells the story of Dutch and mixed blooded Dutchmen from Indonesia. After the Second World War Indonesian Dutch were forced to leave Indonesia and to repatriate to their original homeland: the Netherlands. In Holland many of the 300.000 people who repatriated between 1945 and 1968 were housed in so-called "contract houses". As a ‘welcome gift’ they received a booklet entitled “Djangan Loepah” (“Do not forget”). In the documentary memories and stories are illustrated with insightful and never-before-seen newsreel footage of life in Indonesia before the war.

Since 1989 Hetty Naaijkens - Retel Helmrich is the founder and managing director of Scarabee Film productions. She has produced a wide range of projects, including the award winning feature length documentaries Shape of the Moon, The Eye of The Day and Promised Paradise, directed by her brother Leonard Retel Helmrich. Contract Hotels  - Djangan Loepah! is Hetty Naaijkens - Retel Helmrich’s directing debut.

The Crystal Film is an initiative presented by the Dutch Film Fund and the Netherlands Film Festival in 2005. The Crystal Film is exclusively awarded to Dutch documentaries for which more than 10.000 tickets have been sold after their release. The prizes are intended to encourage the Dutch film industry and to motivate the public. 

Since the introduction of the Crystal Film in 2005, the prize has been awarded only seven times. In 2005 the Crystal Film for Leonard Retel Helmrich's Shape of the Moon, was followed by prizes for Souls of Napels (Vincent van Monnikendam, 2005), Buddha’s Lost Children (Mark Verkerk), Forever (Heddy Honigmann, 2006), 4 Elements (Jiska Rickels) and Gold (Niek Koppen) in 2007 and Oblivion (Heddy Honigmann) in 2008. 

Contract Hotels  - Djangan Loepah! is produced by Scarabee Film Productions with support from ‘Stichting het Gebaar’. The distribution of the film is handled by Cinema Delicatessen. Following Forever by Heddy Honigmann, Contract Hotels  - Djangan Loepah! is the second Crystal Film for the distributor.

www.contractpensions.nl
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www.cinemadelicatessen.nl