Binger Filmlab

Biography

Biography
Janica Draisma was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and grew up in Lusaka, Zambia, before she came to Holland at the age of eight. She studied at the audiovisual department of the Rietveld Academy of Arts in Amsterdam, where she made her first short 16MM films. Graduating in 1990, she went to Paris where she took lessons in mime (Decroux). Meanwhile she played the leading role in Kyodai makes the big time by Ian Kerkhof, for which she received a Golden Calf (Best Actress) at the Dutch Film Festival in 1992.
Under the guidance of Ritsaert ten Cate, she further developed her practice at DasArts (The Amsterdam School for Advanced Research in Theatre and Dance Studies). At the same time she continued realizing and producing her own films for which she founded The Draft Foundation in 1995.
In co-production with the NPS Television she made the documentaries Ea Sola – Sécheresse et Pluie, a poetic film about the French-Vietnamese choreographer Ea Sola and The Wondrous, a sober portrait of mentally handicapped, in collaboration with visual artist Berend Strik. Thereupon she lived and worked in Rome and created the dance and poetry project La Terra e la Morte (with Cibelle Domingos de Padua and Giorgio Barberio Corsetti).
In 1999 she developed her skills as a scriptwriter at the Maurits Binger Film Institute in Amsterdam. Commissioned by the NPS Television she then wrote and directed the film The Sound of Drumming (with Johanna ter Steege).
In 2001 Janica was selected to stay for one year at the ‘Cité Internationale des Arts’ in Paris, where she further developed a French film script (musical). Her last film Over mijn lippen (Crossing my lips) about stuttering and communication, received a Nomination for Best Short Documentary at the Dutch Film Festival in 2005 and will be shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2007. In 2005/2006 she participated in the DDV (Digital Desktop Video and Final Cut Pro) course at CMM and now has her own editing facilities.
At present Janica is developing several feature film scripts and a personal documentary about her youth in Africa. Janica is also a photographer and sometimes actress.

Filmography

Filmography: script, direction and (co-)production short films

Under African skies (videoclip) Dig.video, 5’30min, col, 2006
Crossing my lips (doc) prod. SNG Film (Digna Sinke) XDCam/HD, 14min, col, 2005
Dansen med det fremmede (40th birthday Odin Teatret) Dig.video, 33min, col, 2005
Con Amore (doc) (impression Odin Teatret, Denemark) Dig.video, 24min, col, 2004
Alhamdoulilah! (documentary, prod. DasArts) Dig.video, 56min, col, 2003
The Sound of Drumming (fiction, prod. NPS Television) S-16mm/D.v, 22min,col, 2001
La Terra e la Morte - Estratto II (dance & poetry) Dig.video, 25min, col, 1999
La Terra e la Morte - Estratto I (dance & poetry) Dig.video, 22min, col, 1998
The Wondrous (doc, short version, co-prod NPS) 35mm/D.v, 9min, col, 1998
The Wondrous II (doc, long version, co-prod NPS) Dig.video, 23min, col, 1998
Sonata do mar (Life Forms animation) 35mm/D.v, 5min, col, 1998
Ea Sola – Sécheresse et Pluie (documentary, co-prod NPS) Dig.video, 26min, col, 1997
De Iside ed Osiride (experimental, fiction, Paris) 16mm, 16min,col bl-w, 1996
Screen-Play for Three (experimental, fiction) 16mm, 31min, bl-w, 1995
Fenceless in Grace (experimental, fiction) 16mm, 22min,bl-w,col, 1994
Bala II (dance film, fiction) 16mm, 10min,col, 1993
La Balayeuse (dance film, fiction, Paris) 16mm, 5min,col, 1992
The Blight, ah (experimental, fiction) 16mm,4'13sec,col, 1991
Skipping' Sore + On Pointes & Boots (dance/stop-motion) 16mm, 3min,col, 1990
Table Kick Piece + Research (dance/stop-motion) 16mm,2’30sec,col, 1988
Dance within Frame (dance/stop-motion) 16mm, 40sec,col, 1988

Film Roles
Leading actress in documentary Until they took her away, Mirjam van Veelen, 2006 (in production)
Second actress in short film The Partisan, Piet Oomes, 2004
Second actress in feature film Beat, David Verbeek, 2003
Leading actress in short film Butterfly, Ben van Lieshout, 1994
Leading actress in feature film Kyodai makes the big time, Ian Kerkhof, 1992
Leading actress in short film Iris, Caitlin Hulscher, 1991

Special details

Awards
NPS New Arrivals Prize for Crossing my lips, February 2006 (www.cinema.nl/newarrivals)
Nomination Golden Calf for Best Short Documentary for Crossing my lips, Dutch Film festival, 2005
Selected for Berlinale Talent-Campus, Int. Film Festival Berlin, 2003
Selected for European Pitch Point, Int. Film Festival Berlin, 2001
Special mention for Sonata do mar, Media Dance, Paris, 1999
Nomination Kunstaanmoedigingsprijs Amstelveen (films), 1996
Springdance Cinema Prize for Bala II, Utrecht, 1995
Prize for Bala II, Danse Visions Festival, Nantes, France, 1994
Golden Calf (Best Actress) Dutch Film Festival Utrecht, 1992

Binger history

At Binger as writer director in 1999/2000 (under direction of Jeanne Wikler)

Programmes at Binger

• Script Development Programme

Programme and year at Binger

2

Title

Lalibela

Original title

Lalibela

Genre

Musical

Writer

Janica Draisma

Director

Janica Draisma

Producer

not yet

Extra crew

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Actors

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Synopsis

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Project state

development

Technical information

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Festivals

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Awards

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Quotes

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