Ruud van Hemert

Ruud van Hemert (29 October 1938 – 5 July 2012) was a Dutch film director known especially for (dark) comedy. In the 1970s he helped produce and direct TV shows on VPRO before starting a career as a film director.

Biography Ruud van Hemert was the son of television producer Willy van Hemert, and followed in his father's footsteps, making two television films for the VPRO, TV-Eiland (1965), and Pepijn op wieletjes ("a children's film for and about naughty children" conceived by Hans Andreus, followed by a few other children's shows, with Harrie Geelen. (at the end of the film, the parents are buried, in their car, under a layer of asphalt); the film drew 1.5 million visitors (some 10% of the Dutch population), making it one of the most successful Dutch films ever. another commercial success with 2 million tickets sold. Variety noted that while the anti-bourgeois mentality of the TV shows he did for the VPRO was maintained in the films, van Hemert himself said he was influenced more strongly by Hollywood cinema. Dutch films of the period were generally influenced by Hollywood; other "Hollands Hollywood" productions were Dick Maas's De Lift (1983) and Flodder (1986).

1988's Honneponnetje, a follow-up to Schatjes! and Mama is boos, was not well received by critics—it was "no more than a thousandfold-retold wet dream from a frustrated teenager". in 2001 with I Love You Too, based on a novel by Ronald Giphart (141,257 visitors), and in 2004 his last film, (77,399 visitors). His career, however, went downhill. He wrote about his frustrations with the film industry in a book called Bruut, and retired to Spain. In 2008 he survived prostate cancer, but in 2011 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of throat cancer and he died the year after,

Selected filmography Schatjes! (1984) (1986) Honneponnetje (1988) I Love You Too (2001) Love Trap (2004)