Context

Sacta started life while I was working as an art and drama teacher at a high school. When the pandemic hit, I started work on a script with a central idea: A play about a play. When it became clear almost all of the yearly activities of the school had to be cancelled, I set up a meeting with the school director to turn this script into a movie. She decided to trust me with €10.000 and I started working on building the sets, sketching story boards, arranging light and sound, training the actors and in april of 2021, we had a 7-day shooting schedule. Time was short since we had to deal with a COVID-curfew and most of the actors doing their final exams but miraculously, all the scenes were shot even though we usually had about 45 minutes per scène to film. 

Vision

I wanted Sacta to be a light-hearted comedy with some sharp edges around the corners. Focusing on a doomed play saved by a single member of the dysfunctional team. I love stories of projects falling apart and being saved by the people that care. I filmed it handheld and zoomed in to make it feel more like a documentary but most of the shots are carefully lit and put together to try and give it a cinematic quality (hence, the 2.35:1 aspect ratio) . Four months, I practiced with the actors as if it was going to be a play so they knew the lines by heart and that saved a lot of time during shooting. In editing I tried to make it as fast paced as possible, only the first shot being longer than a few seconds. My biggest regret is the script not being focused. It tries to balance the plot of the main actress and her dad, the co-director saving the play and an evil corporation ruining the play. It turned out tto be very confusing. I also regret communicating too much with the costume and set designers and not enough with light and sound. A lot of shots could have been improved if I would have shared my ideas with them beforehand. 

Infuential media 

Most important references: Concepts from Birdman (2014) and Welcome to Me (2014). Dry humor of Napoleon Dynamite (2004) Contrast between show and behind the scenes: One Cut of the Dead (2017), editing style of Arrested Development (2003 - ...), set and costume design of Clueless (1995). Surreal quality of Mulholland Drive (2001)

Video submission 

(English subtitles available)

The film is 65 minutes long. I regret not being able to make something more compact so I could have given more care to the details but I had no choice considering the context. I tried to make a 15 minute version especially for you but I found that it took away most of the charm. I have come up with the following solution:

If you have 15 minutes to watch from the movie, please spend it as follows: 

-Watch five minutes starting 01:07
-Scan through the scenes for five minutes. 
-Watch five minutes starting 49:00

 

Thank you so much for your attention. 

STORY BOARD EXCERPT

Here are some of the story boards I drew up prior to filming. In total there were about 500 images drawn.

CONCEPT SKETCHES

CREDITS

Crew


Cast


Made possible by


Directed by

  David Lvov  

 

Written by

  David Lvov
  &  Tim van Kaam  

 

Editor

  David Lvov  

 

Lightning Technician

  Pim Besseler  

 

Cinematographer and Story boards

  David Lvov  

 

Sound designer

  Pim Besseler  

 

1st Assistant Sound

  Emma Roetman  

 

Sound editors

  Pim Besseler 
  &  David Lvov  

 

Recording Leader

  Boris Mulder  

 

Script Supervisor

  Marit Stienstra  

 

Set Design

  René Kouwer,
  David Lvov   
  &  Noa Jorritsma  

 

Costumes

  Eugenie Kips,
  Sylwia Nikolaas
  &  Rieneke de Pater  

 

Hair & Make-up

  Madelein Pico,
  Willemijn Brouwer   
  &  Noa Jorritsma  

 

Composed by

  Tim van Kaam,
  Mark Kloeg
  &  Wouter van Kaam  

 

Technical assistance

  Theo van der Kraai  

 

Photography

  Casper Stienstra
  &  Madelein Pico  

 

Boom operators

  Tim van Kaam,
  Wouter van Kaam   
  & Jeroen van der Stel  

 

Crew

  Nova van der Lecq,
  Gabriël  Jozwiak
  &   Noa Jorritsma  

 

Additional photography

  David Lvov
  &   Casper Stienstra  

 

Musical Band

 "After School Groove"  

 

Special thanks

  Christine Lvov,
  Christa de Jong,
  Fabio Palomba

Starring

Nina Tsoutsanis..................

Mohini Ramtahalsing .......

Julia Lauf...........................

Ia Cator.............................

Boris Mulder.....................

Arnout Vos........................

Elina van Niftrik................

Jeske Korevaar..................

Anne Boone......................

Axel Labordus...................

Feline van Hensbergen......

Jamie van Zuylen..............

Laura Teixeira Pijpers........

Bart Jol.............................

Esther Overbeek...............

Jelle de Hoog....................

Jorrit Driessen..................

Veerle Terlouw..................

Celine Thoen....................

Charlotte Verdonk............

Ella Mourik......................

Laura Tudor......................

Sanne Kneppers...............

Siena Pedrini....................

Sterre van Wijk................

                  with

Terence Notenboom........

                   and

Gabriël Jozwiak...............

 

 

"Camilla"

"Fiep"

"Lana"

"Hella"

"Dex"

"Meneer Tiggers"

"Viviènne"

"Karlijn"

"Agnes"

"Djordy"

"Marie-Claire"

"Amy"

"Alexa"

"Otto Vos"

"Beau"

"Dylan"

"Rikkie"

"Shirley"

"Bianca"

"Linda"

"Scarlett"

"Kate"

"Lizzy"

"Suze"

"Isabella"

 

"Dirk-Simon"

 

"Albrecht"