Official Selection Dedication: Wouter Barendrecht

The Official Selection of films for this year’s Cannes Festival is dedicated to the memory of Wouter Barendrecht (1965-2009). In Amsterdam in 1991 Barendrecht co-founded Fortissimo Films, and since 2000 he shared Fortissimo’s co-chairman duties with Michael J. Werner. Barendrecht quickly became known internationally for production, sales, and distribution championing independent films, especially Asian cinema. Barendrecht had a keen eye for artistic and offbeat work, promoting, for example, Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000) and the Thai film Tears of the Black Tiger (2000), shown at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Barendrecht worked primarily as a producer since 2000, though most of us Americans probably know only a few of the films he produced. Some will remember director Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin (2004), director Patrick Stettner’s The Night Listener (2006) starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette, and possibly director John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus (2006).  One of the last films he produced, director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata (2008) will open in St. Louis on July 10th at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre.

Though based in Hong Kong for the last couple years, Barendrecht was highly regarded internationally. Involved as a programmer and press liaison for the Berlin International Film Festival, he also served as a juror for that festival in 2005. Most recently he received the Industry Toast at the Hampton’s International Film Festival this past October. He died suddenly at the age of 43 of a heart attack April 5th in Bangkok, Thailand, where he maintained a second home. The world of cinema has lost an important supporter of quality and creativity.

Diane Carson, a freelance writer from St. Louis, has reviewed and taught film for over two decades. She’s covering the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for STLtoday.com.