DAY IS DONE *
Day is Done * is an intimate and confronting documentary film about the extraordinary daily routine of Peter Oud, a man who hasn’t been outdoors for two years. In an extremely personal way we experience how Peter’s life is disappearing in the abyss. Peter died in February 2010.
The young director got to know Peter through his side line job at Home- care, where he saw an impressive shopping list when they first met:
six packages of strong rolling tobacco, three boxes of beer, one ham, one cheese.
When Hendrikx quits this job he keeps in touch with Oud. Although inexperienced, he strongly feels the urge to tell his story about this remarkable man who is left to his own devices, isolated from society.
DAY IS DONE * documentary trailer
From the director
In the summer of 2008 I worked at Home-Care (to earn money for the holidays) and one of the people I had to give supportive care was Peter Oud. I had to help him by doing groceries, so he wrote down a shopping list when I visited him the first time. ‘Six packages of strong rolling tobacco, three boxes of beer, one ham, one cheese’ it said. It was the most beautiful shopping-list I had ever seen.
After the summer I quit the job, but kept in touch with Peter. Slowly but surely I got to know him better and discovered he didn’t see friends nor family. All he had was a cat and a shed, isolated from society and left to his own devices (Home Care often didn’t show up and the contact with the doctor was not intense at all).
What impressed me the most was the routineous way he lived his life, an extraordinary routine I never saw before.
“It would be nice to know people could see that there are people living a life like me”, Peter said.
But he didn’t necessarily wanted to be filmed. From that moment I decided to bring the camera with me every visit. Not to use the material for film, but to let Peter get used to the camera. I wanted to show Peter’s life in an intimate and confronting way, without plain and without reforming the reality. No matter how shocking or raw this reality would be. After three months I felt Peter didn’t know the difference between the camera turned on or off.
DAY IS DONE * behind the scenes
a NEWTON film in coproduction with Guido Henrikx
30 minutes, November 2010
director, cinematography & editing
Guido Hendrikx
(post-) production, advise & editing by
Ton van Zantvoort
music composed by
Jacko Oudesluijs
Guido Hendrikx
Martijn van Geffen
special thanks to:
Peter Oud
Martijn van Geffen
Oud’s family
Elise de Groot
and everybody that made this film possible
financial support
Gemeente Eindhoven
ISAN 0000-0003-DFF7-0000-X-0000-0000-C
DAY IS DONE * credits
DAY IS DONE * screenings
 |
|||||||||||||||||
Film details Original title: DAY IS DONE * Original language: Dutch Subtitled language: English Homepage: www.newtonfilm.nl/dayisdone/ Running time: 30 minutes Date of completion: November 2010 Date/ place of first screening: November 2010/ Amsterdam World Premiere: IDFA 2010 Competition Dutch Documentary Country of Filming: The Netherlands Country of Origin: The Netherlands website: www.newtonfilm.nl/dayisdone / http://dayisdone.newtonfilm.nlTechnical information Preview copy: DVD PAL, region 0, 30 minutesExhibition format: Digibeta PAL, 16:9 (anamorphic), 1.66, English sub, color, 31 min, Dolby Digital stereo |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| Logline Day is Done * is an intimate and confronting documentary film about the extraordinary daily routine of a man who hasn’t been outdoors for two years. Short synopsis While working a summer job as a domestic helper, the young filmmaker Guido Hendrikx becomes fascinated by Peter Oud, who hasn’t been outside for two years. Peter always gives him the same shopping list: “Six packs of strong rolling tobacco, 72 cans of beer, one ham, one cheese.” In his directorial debut, Hendrikx offers up an extremely personal, in-your-face portrait of Peter as his life slowly slips away. Peter agreed to be filmed in the most uncomfortable situations, which viewed in hindsight would be his last signs of life. Peter Oud died in February 2010.Short synopsis (alternate) Day is Done * is an intimate and confronting documentary film about the extraordinary daily routine of a man who hasn’t been outdoors for two years. The young director got to know Peter Oud through his side line job at Home- care, where he saw an impressive shopping list when they first met: six packages of strong rolling tobacco, 72 cans of beer, one ham, one cheese. In an extremely personal way we experience how Peters’ life is slowly slipping away. Peter died in 2010.Synopsis (long) While working a summer job as a domestic helper, the young filmmaker Guido Hendrikx becomes fascinated by Peter Oud, who hasn’t been outside for two years. Peter always gives him the same shopping list: “Six packs of strong rolling tobacco, 72 cans of beer, one ham, one cheese.” In his directorial debut, Hendrikx offers up an extremely personal, in-your-face portrait of Peter as his life slowly slips away. In Peter, Hendrikx saw a Sisyphus-like figure, such as the one Albert Camus describes in his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” Camus concludes with the statement, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy,” for “The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.” Is the man who puts away enormous quantities of alcohol, always opens the door with the same greeting and always tells the same old jokes perhaps not as miserable as he seems? Peter agreed to be filmed in the most uncomfortable situations, which viewed in hindsight would be his last signs of life. At one point, he tells Hendrikx that “It would be nice to know people could see that there are people living a life like me.” Peter Oud died in February 2010. |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
DAY IS DONE *a NEWTON film by Guido Henrikx |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| ‘One must imagine Sisyphus happy’ Sisyphus – a mythological character – was doomed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, repeating this throughout eternity. The gods who condemned Sisyphus had thought there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.The better I got to know Peter, the more I started to see Sisyphus. The house he never left, the typical grocery list, the absurd amount of alcohol and tobacco he consumed, the television he never switched off, the funny way he opened the front door every visit, the humorous stories he kept repeating: every visit seemed an exact copy of the previous one.In his essay Sisyphus Myth Albert Camus describes Sisyphus as the personification of the absurdity of human life. Are the workmen of today, fulfilling the same tasks one day after the other, less absurd then Sisyphus? In my interpretation Sisyphus embodies the routine of life.Camus ends his essay with the sentence ‘One must imagine Sisyphus happy’. Because, according to Camus, ‘the struggle of Sisyphus itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart’. Is Sisyphus unhappy at the moments of struggling, walking up the hill, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him? Or lays the tragic in his way back, walking down to his rock, being conscious of his fate?Do we have to imagine Sisyphus happy? It’s to you to judge. | |||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| About NEWTON film NEWTON film produces independent creative documentary films with a social, economical or cultural perspective. NEWTON film ‘s have been selected and awarded on the world ‘s biggest documentary and film festivals. Films have been co produced with or broadcasted by the Dutch VPRO, Al Jazeera and TV3. The company is founded in 2005 by Ton van Zantvoort, who is the director of awarded films as GRITO de PIEDRA and ‘a BLOOMING BUSINESS’.About the Director:Guido Hendrikx (1987) is an upcoming talented Dutch filmmaker. Day is Done * is his documentary directing debut, inspired by philosopher Albert Camus and shot between 2008 and 2010. After his secondary education, a two-months lasting study of medicines and a period of traveling and working abroad, Hendrikx went to Utrecht University in 2007. There he studied Liberal Arts & Sciences, mainly following courses on film, media, journalism and philosophy. During these years his interest in filmmaking grew, enrolling at the Amsterdam Film Academy in September 2010. Hendrikx is honored to have the world premiere of Day is Done * at IDFA 2010. In 2016 the new film of Guido Hendrikx was the openingsfilm of IDFA.Guido Hendrikx, 04-12-1987, Eindhoven Education: 2010 – present NFTA – Amsterdam School of Arts 2007 – 2010 Liberal Arts & Sciences – Utrecht University 2006 – 2006 Medicines – Leiden UniversityFilmography: Day is Done * (’30, 2010 World Premiere at IDFA 2010) Sense 393 ( ‘8, 2008, screened at International Amsterdam Film Festival) |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
Download PressKit text in DutchDownload trailer without subtitles (Press right mouse button and save as)Download trailer with English subtitles (Press right mouse button and save as)
DAY IS DONE * press kit |
|||||||||||||||||
Leave A Comment