CHRISTIANNE VAN WIJK

ABOUT CHRISTIANNE VAN WIJK

 

 

From a young age I have felt an almost uncontrollable urge to change paradigms, show different perspectives, rock the boat, upset the status quo, tickle senses, connect and tell soulful stories.

Filmmaking turned out to be just the channel to do this. A channel that is both exhilarating and at times frustrating.

Sometimes I just want to film TODAY but the industry requires long periods of prep and money. In order to flow with that reality I was trained to be able to acquire funding, produce, write and edit as well.

 

I work on small independent productions as well as big mainstream films.

As a Director I love working with actors and getting into the energy of a scene with them. I understand the process which means actors feel they can trust me and are able to surrender into deep emotions.

Story telling is another strong point. Finding the right rhythm and the appropriate balance between highs and lows is like composing a song and directing it in front of an orchestra. Subtlety and empathy are key to this process.

 

I was lucky to have had a technical training both in front and behind the camera. At the Brighton Film School in the UK we were given film stock and old Bolex film cameras to play with. Understanding focus, light and exposure is quickly learned when you are given only a limited amount of stock; you have to get it right!  

 

My forté is CONCEPTS and accessing the bigger picture. From this helicopter view I am able to link different aspects into a formula which often results in ideas and concepts that are quite often ahead of their time.

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My greatest passion is the advancement of humanity's collective consciousness and most of my ideas are aimed at this. I have a diploma in Counselling and Mediation and find this is beneficial when interviewing subjects for documentaries. It helps to really connect with the interviewee and create in depth and intimate conversations. 

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In 2014 I started the FILM COMMUNITY NZ FB page which now has more than 5000 members. It helps filmmakers find crew film work.

 

In 2015 I also started the ACTING COLLECTIVE. A theatre company for professional actors who want to continue working on their craft and work on professional theatre productions. We have played ‘Pride & Prejudice’ in 2016, ‘Persuasion’ in 2017 in a sell out success and are about the perform my first feature film on the stage 'The Scandalous Four'.