re\entry

Website portfolio: ikbenbrand.nl

Instagram: instagram.com/benbrandamsterdam/

DIRECTORS STATEMENT
Seven years ago I read the short story "The Egg" by writer Andy Weir somewhere on the internet. I have no idea where, but it caught my eye. Four years ago I decided to really do something with it. I arranged the rights and immediately started. That also took three years because I wrote a lot of (completely different) scripts, put the idea back in the drawer, took it out again, tried something, threw it away, etc., etc. The story kept coming back to me, until I finally found the right tone for it with the help of voice over actor Johnny Bang Reilly.

After raising all the money to finance the $74K budget film, myself and the director of photography traveled to three different continents and shot over a five month period in total. With only just the two of us, we were operating simultaneously as DP, DIRECTOR, LIGHT, FOCUS, FIRST AD, PROD ASSISTANT and more.. It was an incredible journey across the world. From the forests of Belgium and the desert of Namibia to the jungle of Thailand to the totally destroyed city of Mosul in Iraq where bloody bomb vests and other human remains where still lying in between the rubble that ISIS had left behind. We were there.

Almost one year later the film is finally premiering and screening online in a world that seems to be even more divided than ever. That's why I hope this film can evoke even the slightest positive feeling and love for ourselves and also everyone around us.