Private Project

Their Own Life

The heart gripping Their Own Life portrays three queer persons who survived a period of serious longing for suicide. Kris van der Veen was bullied in high school so intensely in his Christian community in the far north of the Netherlands, that he tried to take his life with pills when he was only 14 years old. Transgender woman Solange Dekker experienced no understanding of her narrow-minded family members and jumped of a high bridge twice. And Jean Passos heard from his Brazilian family he as possessed by the devil after coming out as gay.
The number of suicides in the LGBTQ-community in the Netherlands is five times higher than in the other part of the society. A shocking result of being not excepted, bullied, or even thrown out of your family completely.
The documentary is an initiative of Henk Burger who now already has experienced 25 suicides among his friends. Documentary maker Tim Dekkers follows Kris, Solange, and Jean in their actual support of others who struggle with loneliness, insecurities, depression and death wishes. Solange became a super model, winning even as first European transgender woman the prestigious Miss International Queen title of 2023. Kris managed to become a politician in the town council of Amsterdam, focusing on the ones who need attention the most. Jean developed a special Acrobatic Mental Health Workshop to give people more confidence.
Halfway the period of making this documentary, the shocking news came that Jean, despite his positive feelings, hanged himself in his studio. Suddenly his death became an unexpected part of the story, that will leave no viewer unmoved. How to go further with the knowledge that you can never really read one’s mind completely?
Their Own Life is not only a taboo breaking film, but it is also most and for all a heart-breaking cry for change.

  • Tim Dekkers
    Director
    PrEP&ME, Hola Yumbo
  • Tim Dekkers
    Writer
  • Tim Dekkers
    Producer
  • Henk Burger
    scriptcoach
    Just Friends, After the tone
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Uit 't leven
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    65,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Netherlands
  • Language:
    Dutch, English
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    March 26, 2023
    World premiere
  • Lovers Film Festival
    Torino
    Italy
    April 20, 2023
Distribution Information
  • Mediabureau Onderste-Boven
    Distributor
    Country: Netherlands
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Tim Dekkers

Tim Dekkers started in the eighties as a reporter for the Dutch national newspaper Trouw. He switched in 1988 to national televison. For many years, he was a well known and respected journalist, dealing with domestic and foreign topics.
From 2005 till 2010 he was a freelance correspondent in Sydney, Australia. He worked for Dutch, Belgian and Danish media.
The last decade, Dekkers was owner of his Media Office Onderste-Boven. He made many video productions.
The documentary PrEP&ME about the new hiv-prevention pill PrEP is the first documentary he produced, filmed and edited himself. It was shown in 2017 thee times during the 20th Roze Filmdagen in Amsterdam (Pink Film Festival) and was a big success. The documentary was also selected for film festivals in the USA (Docs without Borders), Uruguay, Argentina, Germany (Hannover Cologne and Dortmund), Spain and Serbia.
Hola Yumbo is his second documentary and would have had his premiere in March in Amsterdam. But due to the Corona-crisis, the premiere in Amsterdam was cancelled.
His third documentary, Their Own Life, had his premiere during the Roze Filmdagen in Amsterdam in March 2023. The documentary was the best visited screening of this film festival. Many main stream media, as the national Dutch tv news NOS Journaal, reported about the documentary.
In February 2024, a new edited version was published, with added scenes with top model Solange Dekker.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My documentary Their Own Life deals with an important, but almost forgotten subject: suicide in the LGBT community. Although everyone wants to talk about success and joy in our lifes, we also have to talk about our depressions and dark feelings. Their Own Life wants to end this tabboo in the LGBT community. We have to talk, to listen and to ask questions. Their Own Life can make a difference.