Eric Velthuis

Sylvana, Demon or Diva

She used to host music shows on Dutch TV, but now she’s the figurehead of the political party BIJ1 ("Together"). As a woman of color who was born in Suriname but grew up in the Netherlands, she knows how it feels to be treated as a minority. Her outspoken style in fighting for a world in which everyone has equal rights and opportunities sometimes provokes extreme reactions, and her attackers have posted sinister death-threat videos on YouTube. We follow her in the three months leading up to the local elections, in which she's running for the Amsterdam City Council. During TV debates, interviews and discussions with opponents, we see Simons standing up for her opinions with a fascinating force of argument. But when she’s on her therapist's couch or at home in front of her well-filled walk-in closet, she shows her vulnerable side.

Killing Time

6 February 1998, Port Arthur, Texas: Erin is home alone. She is about to watch a film when a masked man suddenly appears in the living room. She thinks it’s a friend joking around. 12 June 2013, Huntsville, Texas: In Huntsville State Penitentiary, preparations are underway for execution #499. A little after 6pm, Elroy Chester will be executed by lethal injection for the rape of Erin and Claire DeLeon and the murder of their uncle, fireman Billy Ryman. Killing Time reconstructs an old murder, and shows the impact on the family members and victims during the day of execution. The family of the victims and the prisoner, the guards in the towers, the pastors, the journalists, the handful of demonstrators: everyone has his own way of killing the last few hours of Elroy Chester’s life. Where one yearns for the long-anticipated closure of the case, the other faces oblivion