John Post’s has produced “mini-documentaries” before – but his latest feature was on a whole new scale; recording the huge efforts of an artist recreating a medieval version of his home town. Ahead of The Model Maker: Constant Willems playing at IFL’s 2024 festival, he spoke to Indy Film Library about the challenges and rewards of piecing together his own piece of art, from five years of footage!
Your film is part of our 2024 Amsterdam showcase. Out of interest, how did you hear about Indy Film Library, and what made you decide to submit your work to us?
I came across your festival on the FilmFreeway platform. Because it was a Dutch Film Festival and the deciding factor for me was that you give every film that is submitted a real review.
The Model Maker focuses on the huge effort of Constant Willems to reconstruct a tiny, detailed model of the medieval city of Zutphen. It takes several years – and it must have taken a similarly painstaking effort on your part to piece together the footage. What were the biggest challenges you faced?
It did indeed take a while; Constant has been building for more than five years and so it took me about the same time to shoot all the footage. The biggest challenge for me was to represent the process in an accessible way. The entire model is 100% accurate. The model of the city looks exactly as the real one did in the year 1485. The city archaeologist and city planner have researched every house, and they even know who lived there at that time. Only when the research was completed and the drawings were correct, Constant could get to work.
Of course, during filming, we had to deal with Covid-19 just like everyone else. As a result, I have unfortunately not been able to film the discussions between the three sparring partners about each individual property. And believe me, there have been some discussions, but they were entirely via email because of the pandemic. And let’s be honest, an e-mail conversation can’t really be depicted nicely in a documentary. I tackled this problem by incorporating the e-mails that Constant regularly sent, regarding the progress, into the documentary. This also created a very nice timeline in the film.
Personally, I really like the part about the history of Zutphen. My son (who has a Master’s degree in history) wrote the script for this and explains in a nutshell why the year 1485 was chosen so specifically. I was also able to put some animation skills into it. The beautiful film music composed especially for the film by Carsten Altena certainly contributes to the experience of the film.
I said in my review this was an “unashamedly niche subject”, and one which might not necessarily attract other filmmakers – but I am really glad that you did commit this to film. What was it that drew you to telling this story?
I had known Constant for a few years, because I once made animations that were projected on a model that he also built. In one of the animations, which was about the city fires that ravaged the city at the time, I had the whole model burned to the ground (virtually, that is)!
When I heard that he received this assignment from the municipality of Zutphen, I did not hesitate for a moment. How beautiful is it to make a documentary about the history of a city you have lived in for years and are very proud of? That’s why I also involved as many people as possible who have a connection with the city. Many donors, members of the historical society, Carsten Altena composed the music, Manuela Verbeek played the cello, Louise Broekhuysen, a dear friend of Constant and Trudy, was responsible for the voice-over, Rick Hoekman did the colour correction; they all live in Zutphen.
What first motivated you to enter the world of documentary filmmaking, more generally?
Documentaries always had a great attraction for me. Especially those that have to do with history. A few years ago, I signed up for AOD – The Art of Documentary, a course to become a documentary filmmaker from Mike Bone and Michael Del Monte. I learned a lot from them. During the training, I needed to pitch my idea for a documentary. I came in second there. First place went to a Frenchman who made a documentary about a dinosaur. (We come across them more often nowadays 😊 Dinoman). But they told me that I should definitely make this documentary. So that’s what I did.
My review of The Model Maker also suggested it would have been nice to hear more from both Constant Willems and his wife, when it came to discussing their feelings toward the project. But I said that not knowing the ins and outs of production. What prevented you from going down that route?
I certainly made that consideration. During the very nice preliminary conversations with Constant and his wife Trudy, I often regretted that I didn’t have a camera running at that time. In the beginning, Trudy also wanted to tell her story, but at a certain point she indicated to me that she would rather not get in front of the camera, “The movie was about Constant, not about her”. It was unfortunate, but I respected her choice. Not everyone likes to be in front of a camera. Personally, I prefer to be behind the camera rather than in front of it!
Is there any advice you would offer other filmmakers when it comes to handling such situations?
Respect the choice of others. If they don’t want to, the relationship won’t get any better if you push. That’s definitely at the expense of your film. I have a very warm friendship with them now, after this. I think that’s much more important.
It’s not often I get star-struck when reviewing films for Indy Film Library, but the film starts with a short introduction from Maarten van Rossem, who I have been a fan of for years as the grumpy-seeming historian of ‘De Slimste Mens’. He seems really happy to be talking to you (which is not always the case with the people he’s on TV with). Was it intimidating at all when you were first filming him?
After watching an episode of ‘De van Rossems’ – in which Maarten urged his brother and sister to look at a model of ‘Het Valkenhof’ in Nijmegen instead of some paintings, to get a good picture – I approached him with the question if he wanted to come and have a look at the construction of Constant’s model. I could already see it in front of me, both gentlemen in that small attic room discussing, bent over the first parts of the city.
Unfortunately, because of all the recordings of ‘De Slimste Mens’ and the aforementioned programme, he was not able to do so. But what he did want was to give a speech in front of the camera in Utrecht (his hometown) about the importance of models. We then made an appointment in a restaurant in the Wilhelminapark and there we talked for more than 50 minutes before we recorded his speech. Those two minutes in the film came out of that. A very friendly and cordial man. Totally different from what everyone thinks. He often does this with students, just because he likes it.
And do you have any tips for independent filmmakers working with a ‘famous’ name?
Just try to find an entrance and approach someone ‘famous’. Don’t be afraid to ask. If your story is good and with a little patience – it also took me several e-mail attempts – it should work.
What has the response been like to The Model Maker so far?
The response has exceeded expectations. I thought it was a nice boost that they thought it was great that I was able to make a very dynamic film out of something that at first glance seems so static. And apparently, others think so too, given the accolades and selections the film has received so far.
Constant himself was very moved when he saw the film. And very grateful for the fact that I wanted to make this film. As a thank you for that, he made a replica of ‘The Drogenaps Tower’ as it is also shown on the model, especially for me.
If people would like to see more of your work, where can they find it? And how can they support what you do?
Most of my work can be found on my website: postmediaproducties.nl and on my Vimeo channel.
John Post’s film The Model Maker: Constant Willems is screening at Filmhuis Cavia on April 13th. For more information on showtimes and tickets, please visit the IFL tickets page.
Listen to the beautiful music that I mentioned of the Model Maker that was composed for this documentary by Carsten Altena on Spotify.