Job and the Dutch Free State

Job en de Hollandse Vrijstaat

Job and the Dutch Free State

Rosemarie Blank

NL
2009
Experimental Documentary
50’
Focus

»Even in the rather anarchistic world of the Conradstraat, Job had the reputation of being a weirdo. He was certainly strange and above all a survivor, yet there was nothing the least tragic about him. His way of carrying on betokened a certain kind of innocence; and for this reason he was in my eyes one of the most authentic artists among the inhabitants of Conradstraat. But he had for me a special fascination because he was so utterly unworldly, evidently attaching no significance whatever to ambition, success or even money. Job apparently lived beyond awareness of time and space yet he seemed to see something in stones and wood that no one else saw.«
– Rosemarie Blank

In 1988 Rosemarie Blank met a quietly eccentric man who lived in the occupied Conradstraat in Amsterdam. More than 100 squatters lived there, mostly artists. After the Conradstraat was dramatically cleared by the police, the squatters left. Only Job stayed behind as if nothing had happened. After the buildings were pulled down, he survived under the most bizarre conditions, apparently oblivious to time and space. One day he left and was never seen again.

Film Programme Urban Landscapes

Director / Script

Rosemarie Blank

Cinematography

Rosemarie Blank, Marieken van Verheyen

Editing

Rosemarie Blank, Jan Wouter van Reijen

Sound

Rokus Hofstede, Ingrid Willems

Production

Casa Film

Contact

EYE Film Instituut Nederland

Rosemarie Blank

Rosemarie Blank, born in Germany, studied at the Art Academy in Berlin and worked for some time as an artist. Since 1978, she has lived in Amsterdam. She started to make films in 1980 as a member of the Amsterdam Stadsjournaal, published articles about films, and now works as scriptwriter, director, camerawoman, editor and producer for her own production company Casa-Film. Her film Crossing Borders was awarded a Golden Calf 1994.


Films by Rosemarie Blank
Schattenpaar 2006 | The Comedians 2004 | Almost Real Life 2003 | Now Boarding 2001 | Vaarwel Pavel 1999 | Crossing Borders 1994 | Transit Levantkade 1991 | The Ants 1987 | Devided Earth 1985 | Living with a Rubbish Heap 1982