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Frans Hals: Master of Joy

This documentary explores how Frans Hals defied 17th-century Dutch norms by painting rare smiles, revealing the cultural significance of laughter in his time and its meaning for us today.

  • Frauke Schlieckau
    Director
  • Frauke Schlieckau
    Writer
  • Frauke Schlieckau
    Producer
    The painter Alice Neel. Faces of America (Arte/NDR), Rembrandt: Art, Market and Business (Arte/ZDF), Caspar David Friedrich. Wanderer zwischen den Welten (Arte/ZDF)
  • Benjamin Moser
    Key Cast
    "Pulitzer Prize Winner"
  • Taco Dibbits
    Key Cast
    "Director, Rijksmuseum"
  • Friso Lammertse
    Key Cast
    "Curator, Rijksmusem"
  • Tamar van Riessen
    Key Cast
    "Curator, Rijksmuseum"
  • Glenn Brown
    Key Cast
    "Artist"
  • Arthur Japin
    Key Cast
    "Writer"
  • Philip Hübl
    Key Cast
    "Philosopher"
  • Katja Kleinert
    Key Cast
    "Curator, Gemäldegalerie Berlin"
  • Erik Eising
    Key Cast
    "Co-Curator Frans Hals exhibition, Gemäldegalerie Berlin"
  • Mariggje Rikken
    Key Cast
    "Head of Collections, Frans Hals Museum"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Frans Hals. Maler des Lachens
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Television
  • Runtime:
    53 minutes
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Netherlands
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Arte Summer Cinema am Kulturforum
    Berlin
    Germany
    July 8, 2024
    Worldpremiere
  • Arte

    Germany
    July 14, 2024
    TV Premiere, Germany and France only
Distribution Information
  • https://www.bomanbridge.tv/
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Frauke Schlieckau

Frauke Schlieckau  is founder and managing director of Bottega Berlin Productions.   As a director, writer and executive producer, she has made numerous documentaries for broadcasters such as Arte, SRF and 3sat. Most recently "Frans Hals. Master of Joy" for Arte/ZDF. For Bottega Berlin Productions Frauke Schlieckau also regularly produces and directs magazine features for ZDF aspekte and 3Sat Kulturzeit.

Before she founded BBP she has been working in the cultural editorial department of  a large Berlin-based production company since 2013, most recently as editor-in-chief and director for Arte's european cultural magazine Metropolis.

She also used to work as a cultural editor at the Second German Television ZDF where she worked on the the literary programme "Das blaue Sofa" amongst others. During this time, she moderated a series of talks  for the ZDF / 3Sat specials The Blue Sofa and The Long Night of the Blue Sofa at the book fairs in Frankfurt and Leipzig.

Frauke Schlieckau studied art history, German literature and theatre studies at the Freie Universität Berlin and the International University of San Servolo in Venice and was awared a PhD in Berlin. She holds an MBA Essentials Certificate from the London School of Economics (LSE), a Yale Female Leadership Certificate and an Arts & Heritage Management Certificate from the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi. 

During her many years as a journalist, Frauke Schlieckau has succeeded in building up an extensive and international network of artists, creative people, and cultural and media professionals.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When I came across the work of Frans Hals, I was impressed by the fact that he was the first artist to put laughing people on canvas and I realised how rare this still is today. I started to think about the role laughter plays in art and in our lives and why we need it right now perhaps more than ever before. I immediately knew that I wanted to make a documentary about this artist, Rembrandt's contemporary. Why? Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser, who is an important and wonderful protagonist in my film, put it in a nutshell:

"We are living in a very dark time. It's hard to deny that we are living in a dark time. But there is something in Frans Hals work, a lesson for us, about finding the joy in live, finding the beauty in life, not giving in, still going on, still finding the beauty and the joy in life, and I think that's something that for me, looking at the news, seeing what's happening in the world, to come and spend some time with Frans Hals it just makes me feel better. It makes me happier."