"Photo & Copyright by GP Fieret wins audience award at Asia's largest documentary festival"

The documentary by director Frank van den Engel about photographer Gerard Fieret, who died in 2009, won the Grand Audience Award this weekend at the TIDF (Taiwan International Documentary Festival). Following its premiere at IDFA 2009, the film has also been screened at film festivals in Poland, the US, Argentina, Estonia, and Italy.
The documentary is a production of Zeppers Film in co-production with NPS.

Direction
Frank van den Engel
Photography
Erik van Empel
Screenplay
Frank van den Engel
Editing
Riekje Ziengs
Sound
Mark Wessner
Music
Hans Helewaut
Production
Jorinde Sorée for Zeppers Film & TV
Involved TV Channel
NTR

Photographer Gerard Petrus Fieret often manipulated his photos, many of which date from the 1960s, in ways that other photographers or collectors would find horrifying. He was careless with chemicals, allowed still-wet photos to dry while glued together, and placed name stamps in crucial spots. In this portrait, Frank van den Engel searches for the world hidden behind this exceptional and eccentric talent. He speaks with colleagues, former models, and collectors, and visits the photographer in his completely neglected and dilapidated cottage. Fieret turns out to be a somewhat confused and suspicious old man with a wild beard; at first glance, a vag homeless man for whom existence holds little value. But gradually, the tragic and fascinating story unfolds of an artist who is only understood and appreciated when it is too late for him. He once sold his work for two hundred guilders a photo, but now American collectors readily pay thousands of dollars for a 'Fieret'. Meanwhile, Fieret is passing away, and several Dutch experts are trying to salvage the remaining negatives and photos from the ruins of his house. The photographer died in January of this year.



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