Recently the Binger Filmlab based in Amsterdam started a new Doclab. A 18 month period where filmmakers from around the world are invited to develop their projects in the Lab. The 18 month period is aimed at development, production an post production for feature length documentary film.

I am happy to be in this group of eight wonderful filmmakers. People fly in from New Zealand, Mexico, The USA, Canada, India and Belgium so I feel privileged to participate. The first ten days are behind us now and I love the projects and the people. During the workshop we worked with Jennifer Fox and John Appel. Binger is an eye opener for me, what a great place to develop!

Directed By Carl Franklin, David Nutter, Jeremy Podeswa, Tony To, Tim Van Patten And Graham Yost; Written By Laurence Andries, Michelle Ashford, Bruce C. McKenna, George Pelecanos, Robert Schenkkan And Graham Yost.

“It is not a history, and it is not my story alone. I have attempted, rather, to be the spokesman for my comrades, who were swept with me into the abyss of war.”  Eugene B. Sledge, With the Old Breed

The epic ten-part miniseries event THE PACIFIC debuts with Part One on SUNDAY, MARCH 14 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), followed by other parts debuting on consecutive Sundays at the same time through May 16.

The HBO Miniseries presentation of a Playtone and DreamWorks production is executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the producing team behind the Emmy(R) Award-winning and Golden Globe-winning 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.” Hanks and Goetzman also executive produced the HBO miniseries “John Adams,” which won a record-breaking 13 Emmys(R) in 2008.

This is a video clip I directed just before departing for Africa, it has recently been released so I can share it with you. It was shot in club Prime in Amsterdam on the HPX300 and PS Technik MiniC combo. Operated by Gregg Telussa, he did a great job as usual! Language is Dutch but please tell me how you like the image!

Check out the gallery for some workshots!

After two months in Africa I am back home! Obviously it’s weird and I have to find my way again, the last weeks of our production I have been very tired and didn’t get around to posting anything. So I owe you guys some nice aerial shots I think! Shot in Kigali, Rwanda and Lilongwe, Malawi both in a helicopter and a plane.

One of the first children helped by the halfway home in Entesekera is currently making  a living by weaving clothes. A nice setting with some beautiful natural lighting.

After a seven day communication blackout in Maasai country, a chartered flight to Nairobi, a 9 our drive to Maua, Kenya and back I am online! It was actually very nice not to communicate for a while, if we needed something from from a Maasai settlement we would send someone an receive word four ours later, a very impressive culture. One that still lives as they did thousands of years ago as gatherers herding cows an goats. No electricity, telephones or internet. You can imagine I have built quite a backlog of videos waiting to be posted… The project we were visiting was funded by the Liliane Foundation. Traditionally the Maasai have a very bad image of the physically and mentally disabled, it is seen as a course, a punishment from the gods and people are often hidden and starved to death. The Liliane Foundation is funding a halfway home for the disabled in Entekerera. The main objectives are to provide a home, education and create awareness in the Maasai community, and so bettering the situation of the disabled in the Maasai comunity. Part of the halfway home is a school were I shot the video above. Below is a sunset shot in this beautiful part of Kenya.

We are currently staying in a house on the Ugandan side of Lake Victoria. The house is situated at the lake and the view is breathtaking, today we are enjoying a full day of! Tuesday we will depart for Nairobi, Kenia. I will keep you posted and post some more video if bandwidth allows it.

Yesterday we departed from Bukoba at 8:00 we knew it would be a long trip, from Bukoba, Tanzania to Kigali, Rwanda by car. We heard different travel time estimates, ranging from 5 hours to 12. Last night we pulled in at 8:30 pm so the latter was true… It was a journey with risks, we learned that the boarder region between Tanzania and Rwanda was not the safest. Armed bandits were common so we arranged for an armed escort. Two armed police officers would accompany us during our trip. The road was pretty good for African standards, we enjoyed what they call an “African massage” in our 4×4 van. Crossing the border post proofed to be easier than anticipated. This morning I woke up in a hotel in Kigali without a scratch, the first good night sleep in 3 days. This video shows a short excerpt of our trip.

We recently visited a small local village on the coastline of Lake Victoria, Tanzania. The community was receiving post natal care from a local hospital we here visiting. A part of the performance based financing program initiated by Cordaid, click here for more information. These are some of the mothers faces.