Dirk Herman Willem Maas (Dick) (born 15 April 1951) is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, film producer and film composer.[1]
Career
[edit]
Maas achieved fame after the success of his music videos for the Dutch band Golden Earring, including "Twilight Zone" and the controversial "When the Lady Smiles," and his films De Lift,[2]Amsterdamned[3] and Flodder in the 1980s. Maas also directed the controversial Saint Nicolas slasher Sint (Saint Nick) and one episode of the TV series Young Indiana Jones. The film Karakter won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1998. Maas served as executive producer. The film was produced by his production company First Floor Features, founded in 1984. He left the company, which he started with Laurens Geels, in 2002.
His 2016 film Prey became an unexpected box office hit in China cinemas in 2019. It is also the first Dutch film to secure a wide theatrical release in China. The film was retitled as Violent Fierce Lion.[4]
An authorized documentary about his career titled De Dick Maas Methode premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival on September 27, 2020, in Utrecht.[5][6]
In 1998 he wrote his first thriller, titled Salvo (ISBN 978-90-820704-3-9). In 2016 followed by a book in which he wrote about his career as a filmmaker (ISBN 978-90-820704-2-2). The Naked Witness (ISBN 978-90-820704-6-0) is the title of his 2021 book based on his 1988 film Amsterdamned. According to Maas it is the first in a series of books based on this film.[7][8]
In December 2023 Maas announced that he is working on a sequel to his 1988 film Amsterdamned. Filming will start in September of 2024 with an expected 2025 release. Huub Stapel again plays the leading role.[9][10][11]
Personal life
[edit]
Dick Herman Willem Maas[12] was born on 15 April 1951 in Heemstede in the Netherlands. His mother was actress Inge Beekman (1924–2009). The father of Inge, his grandfather he never knew, was Wim Beekman (1895–1934), KLM captain who was killed during the 1934 KLM Douglas DC-2 crash.[13]
Maas is married to fellow film director Esmé Lammers, a granddaughter of Max Euwe, World Chess Champion 1935–1937.
Filmography (as director)
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Music videos
[edit]
1982 – "Twilight Zone" - Golden Earring
1984 – "Clear Night Moonlight" - Golden Earring
1984 – "When the Lady Smiles" - Golden Earring
1988 – "Amsterdamned" - Loïs Lane
1988 - " Haunted Guitar " - Billy Falcon
1989 - " Turn The World Around " - Golden Earring
1997 – "Burning Stuntman" - Golden Earring
1997 - " Dance in the Light " - Mai Tai
2003 - " Afscheid Nemen Bestaat Niet " - Marco Borsato
2004 - " Laat me Gaan " - Marco Borsato
Shorts
[edit]
Historia Morbi - 1974
Picknick'- 1975
Adelbert - 1977
Bon Bon - 1979
Onder De Maat - 1979
Overval - 1979
Idylle - 1979
Rigor Mortis - 1980
Long Distance - 2003
Television
[edit]
Flodder (1993–1994, 8 episodes)
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993; episode "Transylvania")
Features
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1983 – The Lift
1986 – Flodder
1988 – Amsterdamned
1992 – Flodder in America (aka Flodder 2)
1995 – Flodder 3
1999 – Do Not Disturb
2001 – Down
2007 – Moordwijven
2010 – Sint
2012 – Quiz
2016 – Prey
2025 – Amsterdamned II
References
[edit]
^"Dick Maas". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
^Janet Maslin (1983). "De Lift". The New York Times.
^Hinson, Hal (March 10, 1989). "'Amsterdamned'". The Washington Post.