Pater Raymond van Sasse van IJsselt

Biography

The Dutch priest and director Jan van Sasse van IJsselt joined a Franciscan order in 1938 and was ordained as a priest in March 1945; at that time he took the name Raymond. From 1947 to 1967 he was part of the Holy Leonard parish in Leiden. After that he became a teacher of religion at the Bonaventura College in that city. From 1975 until his retirement in 1991, Van Sasse van IJsselt was the parish priest in Woubrugge. During his work in Leiden he was active with Franciscan charity works, and he became well known for the film showings he organised until 1967 for young people.

In the early 1950s he directed two films for young people: De club van de Zwarte Panter and Het geheim van de Valkenhorst. In the film, he cast boys from the Don Boscohuis, where Van Sasse van IJsselt was director at the time. Both films were produced by the Tilburg-based production company Brabant-Film which, after the first film, changed its name to Parcival Film. The cameraman was Didier van Koekenberg, the main cameraman for Parcival.