The Invisible Ones
Martijn Blekendaal
THE INVISIBLE ONES is a feature-length youth documentary about people who, as children, were forced by necessity to develop the ability to go through life unseen and unnoticed.
Selected for Youth Competition IDFA 2024
The filmmaker also trawls through film and television history to find out how other directors have tried to capture the invisible in image and sound. Meanwhile, he and an inventor do all kinds of film experiments to bring his invisible character to life. At the end of the film, will he succeed in creating the invisible hero who can watch over all invisible children as a guardian angel?
Interview IDFA Youth Film Programmer Niki Padidar
Interview by IDFA Martijn Blekendaal
Director Martijn Blekendaal already showed with his award-winning The man who looked beyond the horizon that his playful, dynamic style of storytelling appeals to a wide young audience. He takes his young audience very seriously: they have just as wide an interest as adults and they do not need to be protected from reality. It’s only about how you tell a story.
“The film THE INVISIBLE ONES is a quest for invisibility and, although set up as an experiment, it is not an experimental film. Striving to engage the widest possible audience with my story plays an important role in my creative choices. With THE INVISIBLE ONES, a conscious decision was made to make a film that ties in with a popular genre, the superhero film.”
When you walk out of the theatre, you look at your surroundings differently. You now see people you hadn’t necessarily noticed before, and attribute unsuspected qualities to them. A super talent even: the ability to be invisible. In turn, vulnerable young people feel more empowered.
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credits
script and diretor Martijn Blekendaal
cinematography Pim Hawinkels
sound Benny Jansen
edited by Laura Brouwer and Martijn Blekendaal
research Lieve van Sonderen
composer Sebastiaan Koolhoven
sounddesign Peter Warnier
archive research Gerard Nijssen and Madée Hofenk
interactive performance design Keez Duyves and Ruud Lanfermeijer
creative technologist final scene Keez Duyves
line producer Julia van Schieveen
VFX producer Wiendelt Hooijer
commissioning editor Marije Meerman and Barbara Truyen (VPRO)
co-producer Bram Crols and Mark Daems for Associate Directors (BE)
producer Willemijn Cerutti for Cerutti Film (NL)
This film was supported by The Netherlands Film Fund, The Netherlands Film Production Incentive, CoBO, NPO fund, Fonds 21, The Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian Federal Government through Flanders Tax Shelter and Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF).