Fons Rademakers

Biography

Fons Rademakers was born in Roosendaal. He started out as an actor and a stage director. In 1955 he received a scholarship from the the Dutch government for an internship abroad (the Film Academy didn't exist at that time). He wanted to bring this experience and knowledge, which he acquired on set with Vittorio de Sica in Rome and later with Jean Renoir in Paris, back to the Netherlands to help establish a feature film industry. Rademakers made his debut with Dorp aan de rivier; with this film, he was the first Dutch director to be nominated for an Oscar (Best Foreign-Language Production). In 1987 he received an Oscar for De aanslag. In 1998, he received the Bert Haanstra Oeuvreprijs.

Rademakers could relate more to the exuberant joie de vivre of the Belgians, the French and the Italians than he could the staid Protestant nature of the Dutch north of the Waal and Meuse. While he found style important, it needed to be in service to a film's narrative. With Rademakers, the drama was first priority; his films were always aimed at a wide audience. Rademakers was also active as a producer. Besides his own films, he also produced films by his wife, Lili Rademakers, and a film by Ate de Jong. He also acted in films by others, such as De vijanden and Vrijdag by Hugo Claus and Mysteries by Paul de Lussanet.

Rademakers' last film, The Rose Garden, was made in 1989.