Lidewijde Paris
(The Netherlands, 1962) is a writer and journalist. She studied Dutch Language and Literature at Utrecht University. She then started working as a journalist for the Dutch daily NRC. She later worked as a publisher at publishing houses such as Querido, Ailantus and Nieuw Amsterdam. In 2016, Paris founded De Lees!ambassade (The Reading Embassy) to promote literary reading. Since 2017, she has also worked as a radio presenter and since 2018 as a book reviewer with Dutch broadcasters. At the Filmhuis Den Haag, she regularly presents Hoe lees ik een film? (How Do I Read a Film?). She published Hoe lees ik? (How Do I Read?, an accessible book explaining literary tricks), Hoe lees ik korte verhalen? (How Do I Read Short Stories?) and Een gedicht is ook maar een ding (A Poem is Just a Thing).
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Archive available for: Lidewijde Paris
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How to Read a (Short) Film with Lidewijde Paris, about 'The Dinner Party' (Iran)
With her enthusiasm and humour, Lidewijde Paris ping-ponges with the audience about meanings, interpretations and emotions. She provides some viewing tips ahead of time so that after the screening, she can discuss the story and how it is told step-by-step with the audience. What symbolism is on view and how should you interpret the film's title? Is there a tipping point in the story? How does the film steer the viewer's emotions? She points out, where appropriate, literary techniques, and gives examples from famous novels.
In the Iranian short film The Dinner Party, her daughter's engagement party is a more than stressful affair for Najibeh, who is the perfectionist mother at the heart of Neda Jebelli's vibrant short film.
It is not just about looking after her guests, but she also has to deal with a family secret and the political turmoil raging outside her door. The film is set entirely in the kitchen, with the women, behind the scenes of the party, where their courtesies and labels slowly crumble.
The Dinner Party is based on the writer/director's personal experiences as a teenager in Tehran during the 2009 Green Revolution. Instead of situating her film in the middle of the protests, she wanted to look at it from a different perspective: the female, domestic space. Within this domestic microcosm, power shifts strangely begin to mirror those of the outside world.The result is a film with depth, functioning not only as domestic drama but also as a political voice.
The Dinner Party (2023, 13 minutes)
Directed by: Neda JebelliIran.
With: Nazanin Farahani, Shaghayegh Shourian, Sarah Sajjadi, Pooneh Parsaie. -
How to Read a Film with Lidewijde Paris -- "Monsters" by Kore-eda Hirokazu
Kore-eda Hirokazu (Shoplifters, Broker) touches us like no other with his beautiful, sensitive family dramas. Monster, which won two prizes at Cannes in 2023, follows a slightly dark path that nevertheless strikes a sensitive chord. A thrilling film about the young Minato who doesn't seem to be doing so well, his single mother and his teacher at school. Through the masterful use of multiple perspectives (the "Human Voices" festival theme) Kore-eda slowly reveals what is really going on. An this is accompanied by one of the the latest soundtracks by Ryuichi Sakamoto!
With her enthusiasm and humour, Lidewijde Paris ping-ponged with the audience about meanings, interpretations and emotions. She provided some viewing tips ahead of time so that after the screening, she could discuss the story and how it is told step-by-step with the audience. What symbolism was on view and how should you interpret the film's title? Is there a tipping point in the story? How does the film steer the viewer's emotions? She pointed out, where appropriate, literary tricks, and gave examples from famous novels.
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How to read a movie? - 'To Light' by Nora Särak
The short documentary To Light by Nora Särak (Estonia/Latvia, 2015) shows the close ties between an motehr and son in Pechora, now a Russian city but once part of Estonia. What exactly is the difference between a film and a novel? How can watching films well help you to read novels? What can a film do that a book can't? Lidewijde Paris gave you some tips beforehand on what to watch for. After the screening she discussed the film and its relation towards Winternachten festival's theme Who Wants to Live Forever?
(With thanks to Go Short) -
How to read a movie? - 'I'm here' by Spike Jonze
I'm Here (2010) is a short, romantic sci-fi film by Spike Jonze commissioned by Absolut Vodka in which two robots fall in love in a future society where humans and robots live alongside one another. Jonze - who won Oscars for his films Being John Malkovich and Her - is an American film, commercial and video clip director, producer and actor.
What exactly is the difference between a film and a novel? How can watching films well help you to read novels? What can a film do that a book can't? Lidewijde Paris gave you some tips beforehand on what to watch for. After the screening she discussed the film and its relation towards Winternachten festival's theme Who Wants to Live Forever? -
How to read a movie? with Lidewijde Paris: 'To Light' by Nora Särak
The short documentary To Light by Nora Särak (Estonia/Latvia, 2015) shows the close ties between an mother and son in Pechora, now a Russian city but once part of Estonia. What exactly is the difference between a film and a novel? How can watching films well help you to read novels? What can a film do that a book can't? Lidewijde Paris gave you some tips beforehand on what to watch for. After the screening she discussed the film and its relation towards Winternachten festival's theme Who Wants to Live Forever?
(With thanks to Go Short) -
How to read a movie? - 'I'm here' by Spike Jonze
I'm Here (2010) is a short, romantic sci-fi film by Spike Jonze commissioned by Absolut Vodka in which two robots fall in love in a future society where humans and robots live alongside one another. Jonze - who won Oscars for both his films Being John Malkovich and Her - is an American film, commercial and video clip director, producer and actor.
What exactly is the difference between a film and a novel? How can watching films well help you to read novels? What can a film do that a book can't? Lidewijde Paris gave you some tips beforehand on what to watch for. After the screening she discussed the film and its relation towards Winternachten festival's theme Who Wants to Live Forever?
