Competition for Shorts Live Action Nomination at the Academy
Short Live Action film Nothing to Declare by Hetty de Kruijf, has been selected by an independent committee of Dutch film professionals for Oscar® submission in the Live Action Short Film Category.
It will face tough competition with the two shorts that Fox Searchlight picked up during TIFF to promote for the nomination. Feathers (a world premiere at TIFF, pictured above), directed by A.V. Rockwell in which present struggles and past traumas threaten to weigh down a new arrival at a school for lost boys, a place portrayed as both a ruthless battleground a place for recovery, and Birdie, from Shelly Lauman. (an international premiere) in which a woman walks alone to the train station. As she descends the stairs to the underground platform she smiles at a young man, he smiles back. With the smallest of gestures, the woman becomes caught in a subtle and sinister game.
Nothing to Declare tells the story of three young strangers forced to flee their homes who end up together in the back of a truck. They pass the time on this unusual road trip by sharing their stories, hopes and dreams. The story of the film was inspired by the lives of actors Khales Warrak, Rama Taher and Yazan Al-Hakim.
Director Hetty de Kruijf graduated in 2015 from the Netherlands Film Academy with her film Nighthaven. The film screened at numerous international film festivals and won several awards. In 2017 Hetty de Kruijf directed mid-length film Jungle, produced by BIND. The film won a Golden Calf for Best Actor at the Netherlands Film Festival and was also nominated for Best TV Drama. Recently, Jungle received a nomination for the PRIX EUROPA 2018.
Nothing to Declare is written by Bastiaan Kroeger and produced by Joram Willink of BIND, Julia Rombout & Tessa Beijer. The film was realized with prize money won for Nighthaven and was supported by a.o. Filmmore and the Netherlands Film Fund. The film had its world premiere at the Netherlands Film Festival in September.
BIND productions screened at many international film festivals and have won several (inter)national awards, including an International Emmy® Kids Award for Anything Goes (2014), three World Best Event Awards and six Golden Calfs at the Netherlands Film Festival. Feature film Gluckauf (2015) won four Golden Calfs, including Best Film. Gluckauf was also awarded with the prize for Best Screenplay at the Brussels International Film Festival and was nominated for a Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Short film Gamechanger (2017) was selected for SXSW and nominated for the Grand Jury Award. The film was Vimeo Staff Pick in 2018.
EYE International organizes the Dutch short film selections, the qualifying run of Nothing to Declare in Los Angeles and oversees its submission to the Academy. On 22 January 2019, the Academy will announce the nominees in all categories, including those for Best Live Action Short Film. The Oscars® will be presented on February 24, 2019.
Watch the trailer of Nothing to Declare: www.vimeo.com/bindfilm/trailernothingtodeclare
