Rolf de Heer

Rolf de Heer

Birth : 1951-05-04, Heemskerk, The Netherlands

History

Rolf de Heer (born 4 May 1951; Heemskerk, North Holland) is a Australian film director. De Heer was born in Heemskerk in the Netherlands but migrated to Sydney when he was eight years old. He attended the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney. His company is called Vertigo Productions and is based in Adelaide. De Heer primarily makes alternative or arthouse films. According to the jacket notes of the videotape, de Heer holds the honor of co-producing and directing the only motion picture, Dingo, in which the jazz legend Miles Davis appears as an actor. Miles Davis collaborated with Michel Legrand on the score. He is the subject of the book Dutch Tilt, Aussie Auteur: The Films of Rolf de Heer (First edition – Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM, 2009. Second edition – Ebook: Starrs via Smashwords.com, 2013) by Dr D. Bruno Starrs. A comprehensive study of his films to date, Dancing to His Song: the Singular Cinema of Rolf de Heer by film critic Jane Freebury, is published in ebook and print (Currency Press & Currency House, 2015).

Profile

Rolf de Heer
Rolf de Heer
Rolf de Heer

Movies

A Portrait of Love
Producer
A joyful celebration of the life and loss of Archibald award-winning artist Craig Ruddy, told through the eyes of his loving partner of twenty years. This moving documentary goes behind the scenes of his life with his partner Roberto Meza Mont, in their home and studio in the Northern Rivers, to capture the spirit of the man and artist. Directed by Molly Reynolds (My Name is Gulpilil), utilising footage captured by Roberto throughout the decades, we see Craig Ruddy in all aspects of his life – preparing for exhibitions, painting his most famous portraits and dancing his way through life. An incredible portrait of a creative powerhouse and an exuberant celebration of love.
The Survival of Kindness
Producer
In a cage on a trailer in the middle of the desert, BlackWoman (Mwajemi Hussein) is abandoned, left to die. But BlackWoman seems not ready. She escapes, journeying through pestilence and persecution, from desert to mountain and finally to city, on a quest for an unknown beginning. But the city is more uncertain even than the desert, and recaptured, BlackWoman must find another escape. Or does she?
The Survival of Kindness
Writer
In a cage on a trailer in the middle of the desert, BlackWoman (Mwajemi Hussein) is abandoned, left to die. But BlackWoman seems not ready. She escapes, journeying through pestilence and persecution, from desert to mountain and finally to city, on a quest for an unknown beginning. But the city is more uncertain even than the desert, and recaptured, BlackWoman must find another escape. Or does she?
The Survival of Kindness
Director
In a cage on a trailer in the middle of the desert, BlackWoman (Mwajemi Hussein) is abandoned, left to die. But BlackWoman seems not ready. She escapes, journeying through pestilence and persecution, from desert to mountain and finally to city, on a quest for an unknown beginning. But the city is more uncertain even than the desert, and recaptured, BlackWoman must find another escape. Or does she?
My Name Is Gulpilil
Writer
Diagnosed with lung cancer, legendary Australian actor David Gulpilil boldly explains the journey that is his extraordinary, culture-clashing life.
My Name Is Gulpilil
Producer
Diagnosed with lung cancer, legendary Australian actor David Gulpilil boldly explains the journey that is his extraordinary, culture-clashing life.
ShoPaapaa
Producer
Locked down, shielded and isolated, ShoPaapaa hobbles around his tiny universe. In a monologue that has no audience, he rails against racism and bullies, he ponders his existence lying fallen on the floor, and he makes his bed...slowly, miserably, painfully. And he never loses hope.
The Waiting Room
Producer
Youth on the March
Thanks
A teenage boy stoner lives with his single mother.
In the Same Garden
Writer
We all live on the same planet, under one sun which nurtures and renews our unique and common hopes for the future. No matter how much we differ from each other in color, ethnicity and belief, we all share the same source of life, united in our destinies. An omnibus film on the topic of Turkish - Armenian relations.
In the Same Garden
Director
We all live on the same planet, under one sun which nurtures and renews our unique and common hopes for the future. No matter how much we differ from each other in color, ethnicity and belief, we all share the same source of life, united in our destinies. An omnibus film on the topic of Turkish - Armenian relations.
Picture
Production Assistant
In early 2010 the Alloy Orchestra was commissioned an original score, based on a musical setting drawn on a 3-foot long sheet of squared notebook paper. Its operating principle was a fixed tempo - 60 beats per minute - to be strictly followed by the musicians throughout the piece. Within this grid, the performers were given complete freedom to determine the timbre, the volume and the sequence of themes to be chosen for their work. Two artists - a drummer and a draughtsman - listened to the recording of the music without any knowledge of the instructions provided for its creation. Unbeknownst to each other, both were given the task of playing along with their respective instruments: one with a drum in front of a camera, the other with pen, brushes, ink and colored pigments on 35mm film strips. The footage was assembled and edited in strict adherence to the criteria adopted for the music. The Alloy Orchestra was then asked to accompany the film with their own score
Another Country
Producer
In this documentary companion to CHARLIE'S COUNTRY, Australian actor David Gulpilil tells the story of when his people's way of life was derailed by ours.
Another Country
Writer
In this documentary companion to CHARLIE'S COUNTRY, Australian actor David Gulpilil tells the story of when his people's way of life was derailed by ours.
Still Our Country
Producer
­A poetic celebration of country and culture, Still Our Country documents the swiftly changing lives of the Yolngu people of Ramingining in the Northern Territory. Originally conceived as an online installation, this evocative carnival of images and sounds makes a bold declaration of identity and offers a hopeful promise of a future.
Charlie's Country
Producer
Blackfella Charlie is getting older, and he's out of sorts. The intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, what with the proper policing of whitefella laws that don't generally make much sense, and Charlie's kin and ken seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off, to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events in his life that has him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.
Charlie's Country
Writer
Blackfella Charlie is getting older, and he's out of sorts. The intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, what with the proper policing of whitefella laws that don't generally make much sense, and Charlie's kin and ken seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off, to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events in his life that has him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.
Charlie's Country
Director
Blackfella Charlie is getting older, and he's out of sorts. The intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, what with the proper policing of whitefella laws that don't generally make much sense, and Charlie's kin and ken seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off, to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events in his life that has him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.
The King Is Dead!
Producer
A happy, unsuspecting couple, Max (Dan Wyllie) and Therese (Bojana Novakovic), buy a house in what appears to be a quiet, friendly neighbourhood. Settling in well, they make friends with a nice family on one side and soon meet a more interesting family on the other side. But interesting soon becomes loud and loud soon becomes intolerable. When the intolerable becomes violent and the police are powerless, Max and Therese attempt to take matters into their own hands.
The King Is Dead!
Writer
A happy, unsuspecting couple, Max (Dan Wyllie) and Therese (Bojana Novakovic), buy a house in what appears to be a quiet, friendly neighbourhood. Settling in well, they make friends with a nice family on one side and soon meet a more interesting family on the other side. But interesting soon becomes loud and loud soon becomes intolerable. When the intolerable becomes violent and the police are powerless, Max and Therese attempt to take matters into their own hands.
The King Is Dead!
Director
A happy, unsuspecting couple, Max (Dan Wyllie) and Therese (Bojana Novakovic), buy a house in what appears to be a quiet, friendly neighbourhood. Settling in well, they make friends with a nice family on one side and soon meet a more interesting family on the other side. But interesting soon becomes loud and loud soon becomes intolerable. When the intolerable becomes violent and the police are powerless, Max and Therese attempt to take matters into their own hands.
Twelve Canoes
Producer
"Twelve Canoes" is a series of short films that paint a compelling portrait of the people, history, culture and place of the Yolngu people whose homeland is the Arafura Swamp of north-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Twelve Canoes
Writer
"Twelve Canoes" is a series of short films that paint a compelling portrait of the people, history, culture and place of the Yolngu people whose homeland is the Arafura Swamp of north-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Twelve Canoes
Director
"Twelve Canoes" is a series of short films that paint a compelling portrait of the people, history, culture and place of the Yolngu people whose homeland is the Arafura Swamp of north-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Dr. Plonk
Producer
A scientist & inventor in 1907, Dr Plonk, predicts that the world will end in 101 years, unless something is done about it.
Dr. Plonk
Screenplay
A scientist & inventor in 1907, Dr Plonk, predicts that the world will end in 101 years, unless something is done about it.
Dr. Plonk
Director
A scientist & inventor in 1907, Dr Plonk, predicts that the world will end in 101 years, unless something is done about it.
The Balanda and the Bark Canoes
Self - Narrator
A documentary about making the feature film "Ten Canoes". It is May, 2005 in Central Arnhem Land: 'We are making a movie. The story is their story, those that live on this land, in their language, and set a long time before the coming of the Balanda, as we white people are known. For the people of the Arafura Swamp, this film is an opportunity, maybe a last chance to hold on to the old ways. For all of us, the challenges are unexpected, the task beyond anything imagined. For me, it is the most difficult film I have made, in the most foreign land I've been to...and it is Australia.' - Rolf de Heer
The Balanda and the Bark Canoes
Producer
A documentary about making the feature film "Ten Canoes". It is May, 2005 in Central Arnhem Land: 'We are making a movie. The story is their story, those that live on this land, in their language, and set a long time before the coming of the Balanda, as we white people are known. For the people of the Arafura Swamp, this film is an opportunity, maybe a last chance to hold on to the old ways. For all of us, the challenges are unexpected, the task beyond anything imagined. For me, it is the most difficult film I have made, in the most foreign land I've been to...and it is Australia.' - Rolf de Heer
The Balanda and the Bark Canoes
Writer
A documentary about making the feature film "Ten Canoes". It is May, 2005 in Central Arnhem Land: 'We are making a movie. The story is their story, those that live on this land, in their language, and set a long time before the coming of the Balanda, as we white people are known. For the people of the Arafura Swamp, this film is an opportunity, maybe a last chance to hold on to the old ways. For all of us, the challenges are unexpected, the task beyond anything imagined. For me, it is the most difficult film I have made, in the most foreign land I've been to...and it is Australia.' - Rolf de Heer
The Balanda and the Bark Canoes
Director
A documentary about making the feature film "Ten Canoes". It is May, 2005 in Central Arnhem Land: 'We are making a movie. The story is their story, those that live on this land, in their language, and set a long time before the coming of the Balanda, as we white people are known. For the people of the Arafura Swamp, this film is an opportunity, maybe a last chance to hold on to the old ways. For all of us, the challenges are unexpected, the task beyond anything imagined. For me, it is the most difficult film I have made, in the most foreign land I've been to...and it is Australia.' - Rolf de Heer
Ten Canoes
Producer
A story within a story within a story. In Australia's Northern Territory, an Aboriginal narrator tells a story about his ancestors on a goose hunt. A youngster on the hunt is being tempted to adultery with his elder brother's wife, so an elder tells him a story from the mythical past about how evil can slip in and cause havoc unless prevented by virtue according to customary tribal law.
Ten Canoes
Director
A story within a story within a story. In Australia's Northern Territory, an Aboriginal narrator tells a story about his ancestors on a goose hunt. A youngster on the hunt is being tempted to adultery with his elder brother's wife, so an elder tells him a story from the mythical past about how evil can slip in and cause havoc unless prevented by virtue according to customary tribal law.
Ten Canoes
Writer
A story within a story within a story. In Australia's Northern Territory, an Aboriginal narrator tells a story about his ancestors on a goose hunt. A youngster on the hunt is being tempted to adultery with his elder brother's wife, so an elder tells him a story from the mythical past about how evil can slip in and cause havoc unless prevented by virtue according to customary tribal law.
Alexandra's Project
Director
Steve is a man who has it all, a successful career, wonderful children, beautiful home and a loving wife. However, returning to his home after work on his birthday, he finds his house deserted and darkened with almost all the lightbulbs missing, all easy access outside cut off and a videotape waiting for him. Playing that tape, he watches a bizarre and grueling recording in which his wife explains her grievance with him, her reasons for disappearing with the children and her revenge for how he treated her in a way he would never forget.
Alexandra's Project
Producer
Steve is a man who has it all, a successful career, wonderful children, beautiful home and a loving wife. However, returning to his home after work on his birthday, he finds his house deserted and darkened with almost all the lightbulbs missing, all easy access outside cut off and a videotape waiting for him. Playing that tape, he watches a bizarre and grueling recording in which his wife explains her grievance with him, her reasons for disappearing with the children and her revenge for how he treated her in a way he would never forget.
Alexandra's Project
Writer
Steve is a man who has it all, a successful career, wonderful children, beautiful home and a loving wife. However, returning to his home after work on his birthday, he finds his house deserted and darkened with almost all the lightbulbs missing, all easy access outside cut off and a videotape waiting for him. Playing that tape, he watches a bizarre and grueling recording in which his wife explains her grievance with him, her reasons for disappearing with the children and her revenge for how he treated her in a way he would never forget.
The Tracker
Lyricist
Somewhere in Australia in the early 20th century outback, an Aboriginal man is accused of murdering a white woman. Three white men are on a mission to capture him with the help of an experienced Indigenous man.
The Tracker
Producer
Somewhere in Australia in the early 20th century outback, an Aboriginal man is accused of murdering a white woman. Three white men are on a mission to capture him with the help of an experienced Indigenous man.
The Tracker
Writer
Somewhere in Australia in the early 20th century outback, an Aboriginal man is accused of murdering a white woman. Three white men are on a mission to capture him with the help of an experienced Indigenous man.
The Tracker
Director
Somewhere in Australia in the early 20th century outback, an Aboriginal man is accused of murdering a white woman. Three white men are on a mission to capture him with the help of an experienced Indigenous man.
Serenades
Script Editor
Set in the 1890s in the central desert region of Australia, 'Serenades' tells the tale of Jila who is conceived when her Afghan cameleer father wins her Aboriginal mother in a card game.
The Old Man Who Read Love Stories
Screenplay
A man is forced to confront a dangerous female jaguar and his own past through the sacrificial killing of the beast he has grown to love.
The Old Man Who Read Love Stories
Director
A man is forced to confront a dangerous female jaguar and his own past through the sacrificial killing of the beast he has grown to love.
Spank!
Producer
Paulie returns to his hometown of Adelaide after spending three years in a monastery. Upon returning home, he finds his buddies have not grown up. Together, they decide to open a café.
Three Forever
Producer
Dance Me to My Song
Writer
The story of Julia, a disabled woman in a wheelchair and voice synthesizer, who's trapped psychologically by a cruel, manipulative caregiver. After the arrival of a mysterious man, Julia begins to question the day-to-day dramas and frustrations she's tolerated for years. An achingly genuine and profoundly moving drama about a woman born with cerebral palsy.
Dance Me to My Song
Producer
The story of Julia, a disabled woman in a wheelchair and voice synthesizer, who's trapped psychologically by a cruel, manipulative caregiver. After the arrival of a mysterious man, Julia begins to question the day-to-day dramas and frustrations she's tolerated for years. An achingly genuine and profoundly moving drama about a woman born with cerebral palsy.
Dance Me to My Song
Director
The story of Julia, a disabled woman in a wheelchair and voice synthesizer, who's trapped psychologically by a cruel, manipulative caregiver. After the arrival of a mysterious man, Julia begins to question the day-to-day dramas and frustrations she's tolerated for years. An achingly genuine and profoundly moving drama about a woman born with cerebral palsy.
The Sound of One Hand Clapping
Producer
Tasmania, 1954: Slovenian migrant Melita abandons her husband and young daughter, Sonja. Sonja's distraught father perseveres with his new life in a new country, but he is soon crushed into an alcoholic despair, and Sonja herself abandons him at the earliest opportunity. Now, nearly 20 years later, a single and pregnant Sonja returns to Tasmania's highlands and to her father in an attempt to put the pieces of her life back together.
Alien Visitor
Producer
In this sci-fi adventure a gorgeous alien woman is sent to Earth by mistake from the planet Epsilon. Landing in the Australian outback she meets a surveyor and they cross the continent together. However, she spends the trip haranguing him for the ecological recklessness and avarice of the human race.
Alien Visitor
Writer
In this sci-fi adventure a gorgeous alien woman is sent to Earth by mistake from the planet Epsilon. Landing in the Australian outback she meets a surveyor and they cross the continent together. However, she spends the trip haranguing him for the ecological recklessness and avarice of the human race.
Alien Visitor
Director
In this sci-fi adventure a gorgeous alien woman is sent to Earth by mistake from the planet Epsilon. Landing in the Australian outback she meets a surveyor and they cross the continent together. However, she spends the trip haranguing him for the ecological recklessness and avarice of the human race.
The Quiet Room
Producer
A seven-year-old girl adopts a vow of silence in protest when her quarrelsome parents grow increasingly hostile to one another.
The Quiet Room
Screenplay
A seven-year-old girl adopts a vow of silence in protest when her quarrelsome parents grow increasingly hostile to one another.
The Quiet Room
Director
A seven-year-old girl adopts a vow of silence in protest when her quarrelsome parents grow increasingly hostile to one another.
Bad Boy Bubby
Producer
Bad Boy Bubby is just that: a bad boy. So bad, in fact, that his mother has kept him locked in their house for his entire thirty years, convincing him that the air outside is poisonous. After a visit from his estranged father, circumstances force Bubby into the waiting world, a place which is just as unusual to him as he is to the world.
Bad Boy Bubby
Writer
Bad Boy Bubby is just that: a bad boy. So bad, in fact, that his mother has kept him locked in their house for his entire thirty years, convincing him that the air outside is poisonous. After a visit from his estranged father, circumstances force Bubby into the waiting world, a place which is just as unusual to him as he is to the world.
Bad Boy Bubby
Director
Bad Boy Bubby is just that: a bad boy. So bad, in fact, that his mother has kept him locked in their house for his entire thirty years, convincing him that the air outside is poisonous. After a visit from his estranged father, circumstances force Bubby into the waiting world, a place which is just as unusual to him as he is to the world.
Dingo
Producer
Young John Anderson is captivated by jazz musician, Billy Cross when he performs on the remote airstrip of his Western Australian outback hometown after his plane is diverted. Years later, now a family man and making a meagre living tracking dingoes and playing trumpet in a local band, John still dreams of joining Billy on trumpet and makes a pilgrimage to Paris.
Dingo
Director
Young John Anderson is captivated by jazz musician, Billy Cross when he performs on the remote airstrip of his Western Australian outback hometown after his plane is diverted. Years later, now a family man and making a meagre living tracking dingoes and playing trumpet in a local band, John still dreams of joining Billy on trumpet and makes a pilgrimage to Paris.
Incident at Raven's Gate
Producer
Ex-con Eddie Cleary gets a job working on his older brother's isolated farm. It's not long before bizarre things start happening--dead birds falling out of the sky, family pets attacking their owners, strange apparitions beginning to appear, and people who had been "normal" suddenly going insane.
Incident at Raven's Gate
Writer
Ex-con Eddie Cleary gets a job working on his older brother's isolated farm. It's not long before bizarre things start happening--dead birds falling out of the sky, family pets attacking their owners, strange apparitions beginning to appear, and people who had been "normal" suddenly going insane.
Incident at Raven's Gate
Director
Ex-con Eddie Cleary gets a job working on his older brother's isolated farm. It's not long before bizarre things start happening--dead birds falling out of the sky, family pets attacking their owners, strange apparitions beginning to appear, and people who had been "normal" suddenly going insane.
Thank You Jack
Producer
Karl is a cheerful and endearing 8-year-old, in spite of being terminally ill with a rare neuro-muscular disease. His single mother Judy tries to give him a normal life, and Karl befriends an elderly man called Jack.
Thank You Jack
Director
Karl is a cheerful and endearing 8-year-old, in spite of being terminally ill with a rare neuro-muscular disease. His single mother Judy tries to give him a normal life, and Karl befriends an elderly man called Jack.
Best Enemies
Script Consultant
Niel longs for his older second cousin Patricia, but can't help but be drawn to the emotionally unstable Fennimore, an on-again off-again lover of his equally unstable friend Eric.
Tale of a Tiger
Writer
Primary school aged Orville has a fascination for model planes which intensifies when he encounters Harry who owns a sadly neglected but real Tiger Moth. Orville becomes obsessed with the notion that the Tiger might fly once more and the adventure begins when he and Harry set out to achieve that goal.
Tale of a Tiger
Director
Primary school aged Orville has a fascination for model planes which intensifies when he encounters Harry who owns a sadly neglected but real Tiger Moth. Orville becomes obsessed with the notion that the Tiger might fly once more and the adventure begins when he and Harry set out to achieve that goal.
Gary's Story
Producer
A story of transition: from lust to compassion, compassion to escape and escape to Sydney. Truth plays a very small part.
Tread Softly
Producer
Story of obsessive love between two women.
Tasmania's South West: A Wilderness in Question
Producer
The Audition
Producer
The Audition
Director
Cass
Assistant Director
Torn by the conflict between society and her own life, as well as her failing marriage and love for another woman, Cass desperately tried to pull together the pieces of her shattered life.
Cass
Third Assistant Director
Torn by the conflict between society and her own life, as well as her failing marriage and love for another woman, Cass desperately tried to pull together the pieces of her shattered life.
The Colonel
Writer
The Colonel
Director