Less is More: Masterclass with John Appel

Less is more has been John Appel’s motto ever since he completed his film studies. Not surprisingly, it is also the title of his masterclass!

This masterclass is about the art of storytelling. It is about dealing with all kinds of limitations, obstacles and mistakes in documentary filmmaking – and turning all these into advantage. About the power of restriction but also about the art of silence – creating silence in interviews and using silence in storytelling. All backed up by clips from his and from other people’s work.

John Appel – Biography 

“I make films based on a combination of thorough research and intuition. During my research I’m not just looking for facts, but above all for the vulnerability of people, which is what I call emotional research”, says John Appel who has directed more than 40 documentaries for cinema and TV and has been the cinematographer on numerous films.

In 1987 he graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy with his documentary Radio Daniëlle, a portrait of a local pirate radio station which won the Best Student Film Award.

In 1993 he made his first documentary for cinema Johnny Meijer – Body and Soul. In 1999, his film André Hazes – She believes in me not only opened IDFA but was also awarded with the IDFA Award for Best Feature Length Documentary and became the greatest documentary hit in Dutch cinema over the last 60 years.

His filmography is comprised of award-winning titles – The last victory (2003), The Player (2009), Wrong time, wrong place (2012), The voice of Holland (2018) and Once the dust settles (2019) – which bring closer stories of ordinary people and lonely heroes, filled with daily life drama, melancholy, memories, death and consolation.

He is mentoring filmmakers from the Middle East within the Close Up International Co-Production Training Program and is also a guest lecturer at the UBB University of Cluj, Romania.

22.08. | 11:00 – 13:00 CEST (GMT +2) | Zoom

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