Anna Frijters

Anna Frijters (née Velders; 1889–1966) was a Belgian screenwriter, producer, director and author, known for silent films Leentje van de zee and De verloofde uit Canada (1934) which she wrote, produced and directed with her husband François Frijters in the late 1920s. She was also known as one of the early female screenwriters, who played an important role in pioneering the development of scriptwriting in the Belgium film industry.

Early life and career Before beginning their filmmaking careers, Anna and François Frijters were both diamond cutters in Antwerp and passionate about making their own films. Moving to the United States, they met with Ruth Roland, an American actress who starred in a number of silent films. Ruth Roland encouraged Anna Frijters to enter a screenplay competition arranged by Brewster Publications, where she won the second prize for her screenplay called Leentje van de zee (Peggy of the Sea). Her victory in this competition created largely critical receptions. Jule Selbo pointed out that Motion Picture Magazine, described her entry as puny, and showed its reaction as follows: The film tells the story of a young girl who survived a shipwreck and was adopted by a fisherman. The fisherman was later accused of murdering a young boy who tried to seduce the girl.

Distribution Frijters decided to make the distribution on her own as she was rejected by the film distributors in Brussels. Her efforts of distributing the film yielded results to a certain extent, having her film released by only sub-run theaters in Belgium. She used patriotic slogans as a way of advertising her film and gaining the support of locals.

De verloofde uit Canada (The Fiancé from Canada) Anna Frijters was discouraged from maintaining her interest in filmmaking after the critical and commercial backlash of Leentje van de Zee, though her husband, François Frijters, made a Newsreel film called Inhuldiging van het standbeeld van Guido Gezelle (Inauguration of the Statue of Guido Gezelle) in 1930. However, Frijters wrote a short comedy screenplay called De verloofde uit Canada (The Fiancé from Canada), which revolved around a working-class man who returned home from Canada and discovered that his fiancée Betty no longer loved him and was married to someone else. The main character was played by a comedian, Lowieke Staal.

Production Filming began throughout 1929 and 1930 in various locations of Belgium such as the World's Fair in Borsbeek and the warehouse at the Keyserlei, which is known as a prominent boulevard in Antwerp. However, the production process of the film was also problematic, due to the choice of amateur actors in the cast and their inflexible availabilities, which caused disagreements and replacements among the crew members. In addition, the post-production process lasted four years because of the lack of budget, causing the film to have its test screening in 1934.

As compared to the failure of her 1928 film, this film was given a green light to be scored by J. Antoon Zwijsen as a result of its successful test screening. However, the process was interrupted by a massive fire that destroyed the entire studio. Only the Zwijsen's musical score survived but the fire permanently marked the end of the Frijters' filmmaking career. Throughout history, De verloofde uit Canada was remembered as a creative experiment with its combination of animated and conventional images.

Lost copies It was later discovered that the only son of the Frijters family, Roland, kept the copies of both films in his basement. These copies were later restored for their premiere at the Flanders International Film Festival in Gent in October 1986, with the participation of the cast of Leentje van de Zee.

Filmography

Writer Year Film Notes1928 Leentje van de zee (Peggy of the Sea) Her screenplay won second prize at Brewster Publications screenwriting contest in 1925, however, the film was a critical and commercial failure.1934 De verloofde uit Canada (The Fiancé from Canada) After a successful screening, the film was ready to be scored, however, it was completely destroyed during the fire at the studio. Only the musical score survived.