The World Film Festival – Montreal 2005 wrapped this Monday evening and honored Off Screen by Pieter Kuijpers with the Grand Prix of the Americas.


The Dutch-Flemish coproduction Off Screen by Pieter Kuijpers has won the Grand Prix des Ameriques at the 29th World Film Festival in Montréal. Jan Decleir was awarded the Prize for Best Actor for his performance of John R in the film. Off Screen is a coproduction by Dutch Rinkel Film and the Flemish Another Dimension Of An Idea. The film is supported by the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF) in Belgium.

11 March, 2002. John R. takes the head of security and 17 others hostage in Amsterdam’s biggest skyscraper. John R. demands to speak with the CEO of Dutch electronics giant Philips. His goal is to warn people about a large-scale fraud, aimed at brainwashing consumers by means of widescreen TV sets. In the film, we find out about John’s preliminary frustrations, his bizarre encounter with Philips CEO Gerard Wesselinck, their impossible friendship, rivalry and John's armed attempt to force the executive to do penance in public.

The Festival Competition Jury was headed by Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos, other member of the prestigious jury include:
Silvio Caiszzi (director from Chile), Amira Casar (French actress), Anna Karina (French actress and director), Vicente Molina Fox (spanish writer), Jorge Persson (director of photography) and Johan Bellefleur (moviegoer)

Pieter Kuijpers, previous movie was the critically acclaimed Van God Los (Godforsaken!) In Off Screen it is predominantly Decleir who puts psychological weight into his character and lifts this thriller from mediocriy. He proves to be perfectly capable of carrying off the complex character of the bus driver, who is not only separated from his wife and not allowed to see his children or grandchildren, but also loses his job. He manages to win the sympathy of the viewer by his humane performance. Krabbé’s performance is also quite admirable, although nothing compared to Decleir’s.