My father is an extraordinary man. I created this film to celebrate his 70th birthday, honoring a life that was shattered five years earlier. A severe stroke left him paralyzed and unable to swallow.
There is a tragic irony to his story. As an aspiring filmmaker, I spent my teenage years shooting hundreds of movies, trying to mimic Hollywood dramas. My father was always my main star. While he frequently appeared on Dutch TV shows and quizzes, in my home-made productions his specialty was playing the victim, acting like he was dying or in agony.
When the stroke struck, the General Practitioner came to assess him. However, because of my father's reputation, he refused to believe he was actually suffering. He was convinced my father was putting on a charade. My mother was torn between the doctor’s authority and her husband’s pain. But as dawn broke, she knew this was real. We rushed him to the hospital. Although a disciplinary tribunal later found the doctor guilty of negligence, critical time had been lost.
Years later in Beijing, a fortune teller reminded me of my father’s old dream to be a TV star. Guided by her reading, I made this documentary combining private VHS footage from my youth and his TV appearances to celebrate his life. On December 1st, the whole family gathered to surprise him with his own movie premiere.
