Dutch Documentary at Williamsburg Independent Film Festival

Sun, Nov 24 - Sun, Nov 24  2019

Whyte Hotel

The documentary film Requiem for Williamsburg by Dutch film maker Yara Hannema will open the Short Doc Bloc at the 10th Williamsburg Independent Film Festival on November 24th from 3:10 – 4:00 PM.

Requiem for Williamsburg

Requiem for Williamsburg tells the compelling story of Paulien Lethen, a Dutch artist and divorced mother who moves to New York in the early eighties to follow her heart. All she can afford is a broken-down brown stone building in the crime and drug-ridden neighborhood Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Against all odds she not only manages to renovate the house, she also opens the soon famous Holland Tunnel Art Gallery in her backyard. As Paulien is building her life and becoming successful, her neighborhood is also developing for the better. At the turn of the millennium, however, Paulien watches gentrification affecting her beloved neighborhood in a way she never thought possible. She has to make a drastic decision.

The film touches on the effects of gentrification through the personal experience of an artist who although unwillingly, contributed to the gentrification of her own neighborhood.

Watch the trailer online here.

Filmmaker Yara Hannema

Yara Hannema is a documentary filmmaker from Haarlem, The Netherlands. She started her independent film production agency in 2008: Yara InMedia and 2MinuteFilms. In 2010 she made her first independent documentary short The Foster Parent of Iron at Barefoot, Clarksdale MI, USA. In 2016 her documentary Van 8 tot 88, ‘Age 8 to 88’ came out, and up-close-and-personal documentary on eight men and boys and their experiences in live and love. In 2017

Boeren met Toekomst, Farming for our Future came out, a documentary film on sustainable farming in The Netherlands. In 2017 she embarked on her first international project Requiem for Williamsburg together with producer Stella Bronwasser. They are currently working together on their next project in the Netherlands.

The film was produced independently by Bijvoorbeeld Holding, The Netherlands. A successful crowdfunding helped paying for on location filming expenses.

Requiem for Williamsburg
Documentary short: 30 minutes
English spoken
Director: Yara Hannema
Producer: Stella Bronwasser
Camera: Remco Bikkers

The film is waiting to hear back from Socially Relevant Film Festival NY and Toronto Hot Docs in 2020 and several film festivals in Europe.

Poster “Requiem for Williamsburg”

Winner of Best Documentary at Williamsburg Independent Film Festival

We are pleased to announce that Requiem for Williamsburg won Best Documentary at the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival!