Private Project

Sunny Juliette

In the spring of 1979, a banker has been abducted. A group of anonymous criminals have requested a ransom in return for his release. But shortly after the sum is paid, both the banker and his abductors mysteriously vanish into thin air. The police soon deem the case unsolvable, until it is retrieved by a young television journalist over 35 years later.

  • Andrew van der Ven
    Director
    Chasing the Sun
  • Mitchell van Vuren
    Writer
    Wanderers
  • Andrew van der Ven
    Writer
  • Didi Spaans
    Producer
    Chasing the Sun, Wanderers
  • Andrew van der Ven
    Producer
  • Paul de Raadt
    Producer
  • Tim van der Ven
    Producer
  • Marcelle Arriëns
    Key Cast
    "Juliette"
  • Merle van der Steen
    Key Cast
    "Gabrielle"
    The Crucible
  • Andrew Vandaele
    Key Cast
    "Willem"
    De Zaak Menten, The Hitman's Bodyguard
  • Justin van Dijk
    Key Cast
    "Diederik"
    Nieuwe Tijden, Perfect Strangers
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Sunny Juliette
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Adventure, Mystery, Drama
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 40 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands
  • Language:
    Dutch, French, German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Première
    The Hague
    Netherlands
    February 7, 2018
    Dutch Première
  • Haags Filmfestival
    The Hague
    Netherlands
    February 17, 2018
Director Biography - Andrew van der Ven

Andrew van der Ven is a Dutch film director, writer and producer. In 2011, he moved to Brussels where he attended film school at the LUCA School of Arts (formerly known as St. Lucas). After film school, Andrew went to study film at Leiden University and Utrecht University in The Netherlands. Over the years, he made several short films and worked mostly on commercial video projects. His first feature film was Sunny Juliette (2017).

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Director Statement

I always wanted to make a road movie. But not the standard let’s-get-outta-here one. I wanted it to have something special, something unexpected. It must contain a mysterious element, especially that. I wanted that not only the characters would go on an adventure, but that the audience would also engage in the unraveling of the mystery. That's how Sunny Juliette came into existence.

During the very first stage of script development, the two lead characters where a man and a woman. They where both traveling thru Europe after the women in the first instance tried to steal the man’s car. But when I read the finished screenplay for the first time, I was pretty disappointed. The story wasn’t as thrilling as I expected it to be. I started adding some new elements and removing lots of scènes. At some point, I was quite irritated about the fact that there are so few full-fledged female characters in the film industry. Think about it: how many truly leading, female characters can you name? One or two? A female driven cast can push the story into another, more interesting direction I thought. So I changed my own characters: why not make a story about two women traveling thru Europe? Finally, I added a cold-case to make things even more interesting.

The most important lesson this production has taught me is that it is in fact possible to tell a compelling story with limited resources. We didn’t had a lot of money, we didn’t had fancy high-end camera equipment. But this team has talent, passion and perseverance. In the end, movies are made by people.

I hope to surprise the audience with an exciting and original thriller. It is okay if the viewer still has some unanswered questions at the end of the film. Sunny Juliette is part of a series of three films that share te same ‘cinematic universe’. I am currently working on the screenplay of the next feature: Senja. Being a filmmaker is not an easy road to travel. I had to sacrifice a lot for this job, maybe even more than I would have liked. But this is the most beautiful job in the world and it is worth the suffer. I can’t wait to present the new episodes of the Sunny Juliette trilogy!